


Pronunciation is Key

by anemoneblues



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Blood and Gore, Dark, Demon Summoning, Human!Jihoon, Jeonghan is not in the best of places, M/M, Romance, This may not be graphic for some people but there is descriptions of blood and such, accidental summonings, angel!jisoo, dark!jeonghan, demon!jeonghan, demon!soonyoung, past Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan/ Hong Jisoo | Joshua, producer!jihoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 15:05:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19298188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anemoneblues/pseuds/anemoneblues
Summary: Jihoon only wanted to write a good song, something different from his usual productions. If only he would have known that it's best to not read aloud phrases in a dead language unless you are specifically aiming to summon a demon from Hell.





	Pronunciation is Key

The clock in the bottom corner of his computer reads 4:28 am. Much too late to get anything productive done, and much too early to call it quits before he must get up in a few hours. It’s never a win-win situation when he’s deep in the zone of creating music. The upside is that he’s migrated from his studio at the company to the comfier, and relaxing one in his home.

He wishes he had a stopping point or had gotten to one where it shouted at him to go to sleep. That is impossible as his mind got hyped on a roll of nearing the end of the kids’ new album. Realistically, he doesn’t have to go as quickly as he is, fully knowing the deadline isn’t for a few more weeks till he must submit the final cuts of the songs. Though the energy to create, produce, and sing overruns the reasonable side of his brain.

The heels of his palms rubbed into his eyes, momentarily blurring the dimly lit screen from his vision. His eyes water as he blinks quickly, forcing away the dots in his eyes as shakes his head to clear away the sleep. It’s a temporary fix, as five minutes later he’s doing it again. Maybe a few hours of sleep wouldn’t kill him. Two cups of coffee before slinking into the studio tomorrow- or today- should wake him up enough for the few meetings he has with the kids’, big boss man, and older idols that have certain specifications for their music. If he could stick to producing for rookies who take all his songs with smiles on their faces, he would without a doubt.

His kids, a group of bumbling men who are few years his youngers, take everything he gives them with so much energy, it’s exhausting watching them. The vocals have most of it, Seungkwan and Seokmin, those two probably were twins in another life with how easily they know what is on the other’s mind. The remaining three, Hansol, Minghao, and Chan are a bit calmer. Around the vocalists though, a spark suddenly lights under their asses and fly high in the sky.

He’s working on the final track of the full-length album, and this song is different compared to the rest. Almost like it doesn’t fit with the rest. The last puzzle piece to create the bigger picture, but it doesn’t quite fit in perfectly. The picture still looks great, but upon taking a closer look, it isn’t the same as the rest. That piece belongs to a completely different puzzle and paints another picture.

This track reminds Jihoon of old love. The kids wouldn’t understand it, and to be truthful, Jihoon isn’t that much further ahead of them. It’s ancient love that the modern era can’t comprehend. Apollo’s heartbreak at Hyacinth’s sudden death, unable to truly be with his lover. A tragedy caused by the jealous of another god. Things about loving another he isn’t privy to know or understand.

 The lyrics he has written, doesn’t seem to bring about the message he wants. It’s not the 1940s love, no, he wants people back in Ancient Greece, Rome, before modern languages were created. Yes, perhaps back to a dead language where most western languages derived from. Spanish is a romantic language, yet even those roots run deep in Latin, a dead language that holds key grasps within languages spoken around the globe today.

Yes, singing something in Latin might get the point across. Jihoon brings up a new page, typing in different combinations of ‘love’ and ‘Latin’ to see what he can put into the song that’ll go smoothly into it.

Maybe Jihoon isn’t as smart as people peg him for, because he thought there would be a multitude of different pages about Latin love phrases. It appears with it being a dead language, there isn’t as many sourced materials as there would be with a language spoken today.

It’s not in his nature to give up, so Jihoon makes a quick bathroom break before brewing himself a cup of coffee and hunkers down in his seat, browsing the web for anything that he thinks could go into the song naturally, and something that wouldn’t be too difficult for the kids to get a handle on singing.

After a while, the clock strikes 6:02 am and he’s getting slightly more desperate as he stumbles on websites that are more directed towards witches and people interested in spell craft. A few love spells on the sites have piqued his interest, one recurring often,

_“Tactus adfectus, actus maledictum_

_fascinare tuum anima, fascinare mens debilis”_

He mouths the words silently to himself, looking back over the quick instructions on how to pronounce certain letters. He jots down notes on the words in case he does put it into a song to teach the kids how to pronounce them. It’s frustrating, seeing as the words jumble together in his head, sounds in his head not matching what they are meant to be.

This certain phrase is about trying to get two people together, wishing them to never separate and to live a good life with one another. His mind vaguely pictures Seungkwan and Hansol, as he knows the secret affair they have going on. The two think they are smart, hiding it from everybody. Jihoon knows. Their feelings for one another are as plain as day to him, seeing the sun and the moon so bright when they get a chance to interact. He hopes that despite being in this rough industry, their love will prevail.

Jihoon clicks around, letting google do what it wants as he vaguely reads the description for a website before clicking on it. He’s desperate for any sort of help that’ll get him moving with the lyrics. A website pulls up that he thinks is a fan page for some popular show he hasn’t seen but knows because Seokmin is obsessed with it.

He scrolls down the page, eyes gazing over the description in Hangul. His focus is on one thing, and one thing only. Latin. It gets to the point where his eyes start drooping, finger hovering across a line as he attempts to read what it says.

A phrase pops up and he squints, scouting his chair closer to peer at the lettering on the screen. He rubs the sleep out of his eye as he scrolls over something to do with royalty and incantations before skimming to the actual Latin phrase. He’s too gone to care for the translations at this point.

_“Princeps esto subjectus sit voluntati animae meae.”_

The words escape his lips in the tiniest of whispers, testing out the sounds they make. The phrase finishes and a whirling sensation goes throughout the room. Only Jihoon sees stars as his body finally gives out with exhaustion, his head leaning into the croak of his elbow as he falls asleep at his desk.

The humming of the computer is drowned out as his apartment, the entire complex, and the lights for the entire city go completely out. Its source resonates within Jihoon’s apartment, as quiet as a tiger stalking prey.

Jihoon is none the wiser. Prey caught amid his slumber.

 

 

 

 

 

The ringing of his phone riles him from his sleep, groaning loudly as he twists over his on the bed to reach towards the side table. His hand fumbles around for the device, settling for the power cord attached to it as he struggles to find it while still attempting to sleep. The phone continues to ring, despite swiping across the screen to accept the call, “What.”

“Rise and shine Jihoon!” The voice shouts, piercing his eardrums as he reluctantly opens his eyes to stare at his dull, white ceilings, “You’re late, _again_.”

Seungcheol really is an ass. Too cheery in the early morning and a slump when it draws closer to midnight. Jihoon wonders why they are such good friends when they have such drastic differences in personalities.

He wiggles down into his mattress, arm slung over his eyes to work his eyes to ease into the brightness the sun offers into his room through the window, “I hate you.”

“No, you love me,” Seungcheol responds. Perhaps it is pure luck Jihoon can work with Seungcheol, another notable producer who often keeps him out of trouble for constantly missing meetings or being an hour late to them. Despite the fact that they don’t always see eye to eye on songs, dances, or the production of tracks, but they do have one another’s back, “Right now it’s just discussing the dances but we need you here in thirty minutes or less when it turns to finalizing some options for new songs for the rookies they want to debut soon.”

The heavy comforter is thrown across the other side of the bed as Jihoon swings his legs off the bed, feet sliding into his slippers underneath. The phone rests snugly under his cheek as he makes his way to the bathroom to turn on the shower, “Yeah I’ll be there in forty.”

“Ok I’ll see you here in twenty.” Seungcheol doesn’t allow Jihoon to respond with a snarky remark as the line goes dead, leaving Jihoon to curse under his breath.

In his sleep deprived state, he fumbles with the shower, dressing in a simple sweater and jeans, throwing on a beanie to cover his frizzy hair as he didn’t have time to properly dry it. He makes a pit stop to the coffee shop across from his apartment complex to pick himself up something to wake himself up, and a Frappuccino for Seungcheol. He does appreciate his friend for calling him when he sleeps right through his alarm.

The day goes much like any other day. Meetings in the morning, going back over the songs the company isn’t completely satisfied with, and helping the kids and other groups out with their singing. He spends long hours trying to revamp his songs in ways the company will approve. The fixes they want, aren’t what Jihoon wanted but he can’t always please them or create a song they will enjoy.

He creates songs in the ways he sees fit. What goes best with the groups range, their personalities, and their group compatibility. If he can imagine that group singing the song, he will modify it to where it is a song that there isn’t any other guess as to what group the song belongs to. His irritation sits idly, taking the instructions with a grain of salt. Like a good employee, he does what the tyrant wants.

The kids do make his day better. They listen graciously as he gives them tips to improve their singing, giving little adjustments and asking them to do a few more recordings to see what he can do to put together a demo of the song so far.

Home called to him once he could have left for the day, but he wanted to watch the kids some more. Their energy doesn’t do much to bump up his, but it does put a smile on his face that relaxes him. He sat on the sofa, watching the kids practice as Jun, their dance choreographer, slowly shows them how to do the chorus for the title track. This dance isn’t the easiest. It’s difficult in a sense of many complicated moves that require strength and concentration. He knows the kids can do it, he’s confident in them.

Despite the protests, the kids drag him along to dinner with them. He, being the good hyung, convinces them to go for some barbecue. It’s a joyous time that makes him feel young again. He’s not that much older than them but Seokmin enjoys teasing him, calling him ancient and in good fun will treat him like a grandfather.

He certainly feels like one when the five men all try to feed him pieces of meat at the same time. Chopsticks holding meat that could certainly poke his eyes out all aimed for his face, and he nearly does as Minghao elbowed Seungkwan to get him away from eating the meat offered to Jihoon. It’s a chaotic group, but he wouldn’t want it any other way.

It’s nearly midnight when he stumbles back into his apartment, entirely spent from the day. He toes off his shoes in the front foyer, staring at the slippers he could have sworn he kicked halfway across the apartment this morning trying to get out of the apartment as quickly as possible. Shrugging and not thinking much on it, he puts his feet into the slippers that are neatly placed in front of him, facing into the apartment. Usually it takes him a few minutes to find where he threw them to.

Sounds from the living room draw his attention, eyebrows furrowing as he doesn’t remember turning the TV on at any point in time over the last few days. Could he really be that out of it? It is possible that he has been watching TV. Simply too tired where all the days blend together. The idea isn’t too far fetched that he doesn’t think much more of it, passing by the living room to get to his room. The remote clicks as it shuts off in the middle of an episode of the latest Music Bank.

The walk to his room has him stopping just outside his bedroom door. The air is tense, rope tightening around his wrists that try to pull him away from the door. A noose locking around his neck. If he takes one more step, it is all over. Jihoon vaguely wonders if it’s the lack of sleep. He’s so sleep-deprived his body decided to tell him no when he is finally able to sleep.

Jihoon lays a hand on the doorknob, noticing the difference in temperature. Nothing burns quite like the handle, a simmering burn that doesn’t have him yanking his hand back until five seconds of sitting on the source of the heat. He furrows his eyebrows as he looks at his hand to see a black streak where the bar of the handle touched his skin. Instead of raw skin, turned pink by heat, it almost looks like it is _moving_ on his hand.

“The hell?” He lightly touches the black streak, expecting it to rub off onto his finger, and hurt. It does neither. The black streak moves at his touch, seeming to dance in whatever way his finger goes along his palm. In the next second, it disappears. Slithering off his hands quickly like a snake trying to run from a predator.

He blinks quickly, staring at where it was on his hand, “Maybe I do need to see a therapist,” He remarks, mouth slightly hung open.

The door squeals open in protest as he walks in, tossing his bag onto the neatly made bed before making his way over to his computer. Jihoon sinks into the seat, pulling his legs up to sit crisscrossed in the chair to be comfortable while he looks over his early morning work. Sometimes the songs he’s made that late into the night, and early in the next are outright garbage. Not all things were meant to be produced into this world.

The computer hums to life, taking its sweet time waking from the day slumber. When the screen brightens, showing the last notes he’s typed up, it brings up the memories, and hours of searching for Latin terms. He’d forgotten all about it due to the day’s work but now it resurfaces.

Jihoon furrows his eyebrows, trying to remember how he pronounced the phrase last night, hoping it isn’t wrong before he attempts to work it into the song and lyrics, _“Princeps esto subjectus sit voluntati animae meae.”_

That doesn’t sound right.

He huffs a sigh, leaning back into his chair as he tilts his head, murmuring the words under his breath trying to figure the correct pronunciation.

“I didn’t think you could possibly pronounce it worse, and yet here I am corrected.”

If Jihoon wasn’t already seated, his legs would have given out under him. Eyes blown wide; he stares at the shadow cast onto his bedroom wall from the lamp next to his bed. Jihoon’s sitting in a chair, and the lamp’s light certainly doesn’t reach that far across his room.

What’s more terrifying is that he watched the figure suddenly appear. The shadow didn’t walk into view, no, it suddenly popped up on the wall behind his computer. There is a person in his apartment. A total stranger. Someone unknown who mocked his Latin skills. That’s not the point he should be concerned with.

He tries to calm his breath, eyes watching the shadow as it moves closer. He hears his bed shifting under the person’s weight, signaling the intruder decided to sit on his bed, apparently waiting for Jihoon to make a move. Without trying to show the stranger he is reaching for a weapon, Jihoon slowly moves his hand towards his desk, the stapler in sight, “How did you get in my home?”

“That really should be easy considering you _called_ me,” The man says, voice causal as if being in a stranger’s home is a normal thing, “Albeit, a very bad call but nonetheless, a summon.”

Jihoon sets his feet down on the ground, spinning as quickly as he can to throw the stapler at the person. He can’t even focus on who the person is as he’s more concerned with high tailing it to the door. His feet move quickly but an invisible force suddenly slams the door shut. The black streak that covered his hands earlier starts creeping up the door, locking him in his own bedroom, “ _No_ , what-”

The only exit out of his room is blocked, small wisps of what appears to be shadows flicker towards him, daring him to try and open the door. The window is the other option to attempt to escape from if he wishes to plunder fifteen stories to his death.

“Come now, I won’t hurt you,” The man coos, causing Jihoon’s whole body to shiver, “That is the last thing I want.”

Odd.

Curiosity gets the best of him.

With his fists clutching the part of his sleeves that covers his hands in an attempt to still his shaking, he turns to look at the man sitting on his bed.

At first glance, he appears like any average ordinary human. The man sits relaxed on his bed, legs hanging off the edge with his hands supporting his upper body, pressed against the mattress. Perfectly comfortable on a bed that is not his. The attire isn’t much to go on about, but it does look expensive, rich, over-the-top quality. Dressed in all black, from his ripped jeans that show entirely too much thigh to be safe, to the black t-shirt nearly completely hidden by the black and white striped jacket.

The man’s appearance has him pressing against the door, the shadows wrapping around any portion of his body they can get ahold of. Face is oval shaped, with a strikingly sharp jaw line that in a way make his cheeks appear chubbier, not in a bad way. In the sense that Jihoon could hold the man’s jaw and squish his cheeks to force an enduring smile.

Lips plush with a tint of pink that almost seems too pink to be real. His nose is button-sized, scrunching up as the man lifts his lips into a small smile. If Jihoon weren’t so blind, he might have seen the sparkle in the man’s almond shaped eyes. The more he smiles the more they disappear. Skin tan, and utterly perfect. Jihoon doesn’t think he would see any acne on the man if he dared to step forward.

The non-human part of the man comes to his hair. It is bright fire engine red, almost daring to be pink in certain lighting. Through the mop of red hair, Jihoon sees two smooth horns rising from the man’s skull. Instead of a deep tan color like most sheep or cows have, these horns are as black as night. They angle outward from his head before turning back to one another for a brief period before darting away again. They remind Jihoon of a spiral, ending too soon before it can finish its figure.

A flicker of a quick jerk of something pulls his attention away from the horns. On the bed, his bed, sits a long tail that extends across much of his mattress to fall off the other side. Jihoon can’t see where its origin lies, but he concludes it is at the tailbone of the man before him. It thickens as it gets closer to the man, thinning out further down. It slithers every so often, the end popping up enough to see a puff of hair at the end.

“I’m not an incubus but I don’t need to be to see how attracted you are to me.”

Jihoon turns his attention back to the man’s face, shocked at the contrast of the man’s voice to his appearance. His face flushes once the words sink in, “I am _not_ attracted to you.”

“You were staring at my tail very deeply,” The man remarks, leaning forward to hold his chin in his hand as his elbow rests on his knee. The tail flickers from one side of the bed to the other, like a cat teasing its prey before it kills, “That’s not what someone would do if they weren’t interested.” The man speaks with a smile, his mouth opening widely to display the four sharp canines extending further than the rest of the teeth. Two on top, like vampire fangs, and two more on bottom.

The shadows tickle at his chin, jumping him from this very causal argument about whether he’s attracted to the burglar or not. (Spoiler alert, he is.) Jihoon shakes himself free from the shadows, escaping too easily, “Who the hell are you and what the fuck are you doing in my home?”

“Such a filthy mouth,” The man purrs, the whites of his eyes disappearing till his eyes are completely black and then flaring up red. It isn’t a red like his hair, bright in all aspect, no this is an underlying red that glows, making fear run through every fiber of Jihoon’s being, “Though why do you ask why I am here if you were the one to say the summoning incantation?”

“A what now?” Jihoon blinks quickly, mouth slightly ajar at the man.

The tail stops abruptly from moving, pausing midair at Jihoon’s bewildered state, “The phrase you’ve spoken. Once in the wee hours of the morning, and just now.” The man explains, standing from where he sits to walk, almost glide it seems to Jihoon’s computer where the phrase is brightened by the computer’s screen, “Despite you saying it so horribly I was offended, I decided to answer your call.”

“So, you are telling me,” Jihoon doesn’t miss how the man pulls himself to his full height, not nearly as tall as some people but still taller than himself, “That with me saying those words, you magically appeared in my house?” He puts air quotes around magic, his mind not fully saddled with this entire affair.

The man raises his eyebrows at Jihoon, not amused by the lack of understanding, “Do you humans truly not know a demon incantation when you see one?”

“Demon? Like those that come from Hell? Those demons?” Jihoon feels sweat beading down his forehead, heart hammering in his chest.

With a roll of his eyebrows, the man plops down in Jihoon’s chair, “Yes _those_ demons, though you are looking at a prince, the youngest of Satan’s twelve children.”

“Excuse me for a moment,” Jihoon mutters, face went pale in fear. He walks over to his bed, grabbing the nearest pillow and shoving it into his face. His scream of peril is muffled by the pillow, the demon simply cocking his head in curiosity. Once he thinks he’s screamed enough, he sits on his bed, holding the pillow close to him in case he feels the need to blast his fear out again, “I’m losing my god damn mind.”

“Actually, you’d be losing your guts if one of my siblings answered the call, you see they are not as kind as I am,” The demon chides, winking in Jihoon’s direction. He doesn’t know how he is supposed to interpret it, so he pretends it didn’t happen. “If I had forwarded the summon to one of the other princes then you likely wouldn’t be alive anymore.”

“That is not comforting in the slightest!” Jihoon puts a hand over his beating heart, realizing it might burst from the rapid pace it is pumping at. Despite his fear, question do run through his brain. He takes a deep breath, watching out of the corner of his eye as the demon waits patiently for him to still, “What do you mean by forwarded, like a phone call?”

The demon nods, though how the demon knows what a phone call is, he doesn’t question that, “Being the youngest, I do not have as many responsibilities as do my older siblings. So, I am left to oversee summons, and if I should allow the demon to answer the human’s request. As of this current century, some time before, demon summons have become a rarity… Thus, when I heard your incantation of requesting a prince, well, I jumped at the opportunity for some fun.”

“So, you showed up…” Jihoon crunches all what the demon said into a single question, “…because you were bored?”

“Precisely.”

“Ok what the fuck did I say then because it was late, and I was not up for reading the translation of it.”

“You truly have a death wise if you don’t know what you are saying in summoning spells,” The demon remarks coldly. Tail swishing back and forth across Jihoon’s desk, every time it goes to the left, it nearly pushes the keyboard off the desk. Immense strength seems to reside in the tail alone. He doesn’t want to know how powerful the entire demon is, “The translation is simple, _‘Prince, be subject to the will of my soul.’_ Though your incantation oddly enough was powerful enough to draw my attention. Ones specifically for the Satan’s family can bypass my approval, if they are strong. Though I tend to forward anything uninteresting to another sibling if it sounds boring.”

Jihoon massages his temples at the information that he shouldn’t think is real, but the demon is very much sitting in his chair, twisting back and forth. It’s like he can’t seem to sit still, “I think my brain is short circuiting.”

“Well you likely are feeling different as you and I are now tied together.”

“Wait what-”

“Of course, I couldn’t expect you to understand. The first time you called me, I answered, and I figured you would seek me out after I carried you to bed and plugged your phone in. I assumed either you were too dumb to remember you fell into a deep slumber at your desk or in too much of a hurry. So, I went home, and a few hours later you called me again and here I am. Now our fates are intertwined.”

“Demon prince shut the fuck up for a second while I try to think.” Jihoon pleads, ignoring the glare from the demon. His brain is splitting as he remembers waking up in his bed when he certainly was at his computer all night. His phone dead and left in the kitchen where he dropped it after arriving home from work. The demon must have fixed his slippers this morning too after he flung them off to find his shoes. With a heavy heart, he rubs at the center of his forehead, “How exactly are we stuck together now?”

The prince runs his fingers through his godforsaken hair, lightly tossing it to where the bangs are brushed aside to reveal his forehead. Jihoon sucks in a breath at how beautiful the demon is before him, “I decided to come to your second summoning request. It works as a safeguard so if someone accidentally summons the wrong demon, they aren’t bound to that human until they die. By summoning the same demon twice, you are relinquishing your rights to the demon until your ultimate death.”

Jihoon’s mouth drops open at the underlying meaning of what the demon is saying. The demon is going to be sticking around until Jihoon dies. What he understands is that his death could be by the demon, or some natural force. A hissing sound fills the room, and a pain erupts from his left arm. A tiny trail of smoke goes skyward as the shadow now wraps around his wrist, digging into the skin. He whines as the pain runs up his arm and down the rest of his body, “What’s going on?”

“My shadows are tying us together,” The demon said, staring at his own wrist now barring the same simple black band as Jihoon. He follows the shadow trail between himself and the demon, it is lingering on the floor like a string. It slithers in protest when one or the other moves their arm, “It is a similar concept to what you humans think of the red string of fate. Except it is taken out of context as this does not bind lovers but binds a human and a demon together. Or a human and an angel.”

Jihoon stares at the ground longingly, wondering the issues this is going to cause in his life, “Does that mean you have to follow me wherever I go now?”

The demon shakes his head, almost mockingly like it was a dumb question, “No, we may be separated as we please. I may return home to Hell, and you may attempt to get as far away from me as you would like. There simply will be a shadow bangle around your wrist until we are close enough again for our shadows to meet.”

It’s the hidden conclusion Jihoon assumed. The demon answered the call once again, knowing fully well what it will do. A slight question churns within his chest, wondering if the demon is lying to him, making it up as he goes before something bad really does happen. It sounds farfetched, as the demon prince has patiently waited instead of taking the plentiful opportunities to kill him. Last night when Jihoon was asleep because the demon stayed until he woke up.

If the demon truly was out for murder, it would have already happened.

“It’s past due but instead of calling you ‘demon’ every time in my head, I would like to know your name.” Jihoon sighs, giving into the fact that this is happening.

The demon’s smile softens ever so subtly, “My name is Soonyoung, youngest Prince of Hell at your service.”

“I asked for your name not your entire title asshat,” Jihoon retorts, using the pillow that’s been throttled in his grip to throw at the demon. Without so much as moving a muscle, a shadow flickers to life like a wall in front of the prince, stopping the pillow in mid-air, “Or should I say your majesty asshat.” Jihoon mocks, throwing another pillow to see it stopped in the same manner.

Soonyoung, finally with a name, simply smiles. His tail flickers back and forth lazily, as though amused. If he had cat ears instead of horns, Jihoon thinks he would be purring in gratitude, “My name will be fine alone, Lee Jihoon.”

The sudden call of his name into the conversation when he hasn’t said it jolts him to attention, “How did you know my name?”

“It’s all over your apartment?” Soonyoung raises his eyebrows like it’s an idiotic question. It makes sense as Jihoon peers around his room. The glass case on the far wall holds the awards he has received over the years, all engraved with his name.

“Oh,” Jihoon turns his head away from Soonyoung, using a head to cover the blush coating his cheeks, “Right.”

Soonyoung tilts his head, hair bunching up around the base of the horns as gravity works to pull the strands down. His lips tint up in a smile, enough to see the tips of the two upper fanged teeth jutting out from his mouth, “I was curious as to-”

The question goes unasked as Soonyoung suddenly whips his head to the side, peering at the empty wall just beside the only window in the room. Soonyoung’s mouth turns down into a frown as his eyes narrow slightly, staring at something invisible to Jihoon, “What’s wrong?”

The silence fills the air as Soonyoung’s tail stops swishing lazily, now rapidly whipping to one side, pausing for a moment before going to the other side. The puff of hairs on the end of the tail standing up straight, comically like a cat’s when startled. His shoulders are arched, rigid with agitation.

“I apologize Jihoon, but I must leave you for now,” Soonyoung says, voice deeper, darker than before. Jihoon hadn’t noticed when his eyes returned to what a normal human’s eyes are. Now though, the red is burning, nothing like the calm simmer of flames he had shown Jihoon, “I will return when I can but if you ever need me, say my name and I will appear.”

Jihoon doesn’t reply, watching as Soonyoung stands and disappears into thin air. The shadows that follow the demon prince go with him, the last of it slithering towards Jihoon as it cut the connection between the shadow bangles. The final pieces left wrap around Jihoon’s wrist, annoyed after being disconnected so quickly after attaching for the first time.

The tension in the air gradually leaves the room and his body. He sinks into the mattress, staring up at the boring ceiling. He stares at it long enough he thinks his mind is playing tricks on him, as the ceiling looks to be dropping closer to him, barley held on by a single black thread. After what he’s been introduced to today, he doesn’t think he can convince himself his mind is making things up.

He raises his hand to stare at the black bracelet, though with how it is embedded within his skin, it’s more like a tattoo, or a brand. It ever so often will move, a trickle of a shadow seeping out to look at the surroundings before simmering down back into the rest of the shadow’s body. The fingers of his other hand toy with the ends of the shadow, poking its curiosity to investigate his fingers. Once they’ve investigated him enough, they dance through his limbs, seemingly approving of him.

So much for getting anything done tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

After that night, Jihoon vowed to forgo any research and song that has anything to do with Latin, demons, magic, summons, and a whole list of other things that might remotely be related. He goes so far as to trash the song entirely. Thinking it best to start over with a different endgame in mind.

Life goes on for Jihoon, with no reappearance of the demon prince. Despite his curiosity, he doesn’t say his name allowed. He would enjoy another conversation with Soonyoung but Jihoon doesn’t want to bother him if he’s busy. It sounds funny considering who would think to bother a demon prince who shuffles through summons all day.

It’s by the third month does Jihoon really question if it happened or if it was a detailed and chilling nightmare. He’s nearly convinced himself it was exactly that. The only remaining evidence that it truly is real is the shadow tattoo he’s grown very fond of. It proudly sits on his wrist, watching the world ever so carefully.

He’s managed to keep it hidden from nearly everyone. Seungcheol saw it one morning when he fell asleep in the other’s apartment after a long night of work. Luckily the only thing Seungcheol did was question when he got it and pouted about not being told.

The kids saw it one day when he was working out late at the gym in the company’s basement. Jihoon figured he was alone, so he stripped himself of his large sweater to work out in a tank top alone. It was twenty minutes later when the door busted open with five rambunctious kids hollering at him. Jihoon was more focused on escaping their embraces to worry about the shadow tattoo. It didn’t like the kids touching it anymore than Jihoon did.

Since first meeting Soonyoung, the time sense then hasn’t been interesting. Everything seems boring compared to being faced-to-face with a demon prince. Work is going fine. Nothing to be exceptionally happy about. Things are moving at a slow pace that he doesn’t like. His life has always been fast, not much time to rest. Now it feels like he has all the time in the world.

The door to his apartment unlocks quietly as he lets himself in. The eerie aura of emptiness reminds him of the lonely state he is in. Nothing to look forward to in life but more work. It is becoming tiresome and boring, something he doesn’t like to deal with.

The walk to his bedroom is slow, his feet dragging against the floor. They make a scuffing sound as he makes his way. His eyes are glued straight ahead that he doesn’t notice nor feel the tickle of the shadow moving excitingly on his wrist. The tail end that likes to show itself often when he’s alone peaks out, racing from its usual hiding spot to the floor, zooming ahead of Jihoon to scout underneath the door.

More work awaits him as he sighs, pushing open the door. Since the kids’ album has been going well, the company wants him to produce more songs than originally planned for the next full-length album. He tried fighting it considering the kids are tired from current promotions. Not to mention he himself is exhausted. His mind creating an imaginary Soonyoung passed out on his bed as he turns towards his computer.

Only instead of a perfectly fine Soonyoung like before, the only image he’s seen of the demon, this one is worse for wear. That lights a spark in Jihoon’s muggy state, whipping his head around to indeed see Soonyoung sprawled out on his comforter, lightly snoozing. Cuts, burns, and claw marks rank throughout his body, blood seeming to seep through all of them. His tail curls in on itself, wrapping around a single thigh to keep it close and not vulnerable.

Despite being asleep, Jihoon knows the face of pain. Soonyoung wears it too easily in his sleep.

Jihoon darts off into his bathroom, quietly but hastily rummaging around for the first aid kit Seungcheol gifted him when he first moved in. He knows it’s in here, untouched as he prides himself in not having to use it on himself once. The bottles under the sink crash against one another as he searches, finally finding the metal box underneath a long-forgotten hairdryer he thought died years ago.

 Soonyoung still lies motionless as he re-enters the bedroom, moving to sit on the edge of the bed as he opens the kit carefully. He pulls gauze and antiseptics out, unsure of what effect it could have on a demon’s body. It’s doubtful that it will harm Soonyoung, but a small chance of it could happen. Either way, this is the only way Jihoon knows how to take care of wounds, so he must try.

Now closer, he can see how deep the wounds run. A large slash mark, what is most probable a long cut by a single blade extends from his left shoulder down to stop just above his right hip. It looks deep, too deep for Jihoon’s skills. He can’t take the demon to the hospital, so Soonyoung is stuck with his minimal care till they can figure out what to do.

Slowly but surely, he cuts the fabric of the demon’s shirt and peels it off to reveal more wounds. The strong smell makes him reel back slightly as he tosses the shirt over his shoulder. He lightly daps antiseptics onto cotton pads, gently dabbing at the wound where it is closest to Soonyoung’s head. It takes him a while to get at least every visible wound looked at, and to stop the bleeding. It seems that no matter how much pressure he puts on the wound, it only stops at random points.

He did notice while working on a smaller stab wound in Soonyoung’s left bicep that the large slash across his torso was mending itself together. The pieces of flesh, and tissue underneath reaching for one another, expanding till they meet one another in the middle. Jihoon doesn’t gawk like he wants to, instead focusing on wrapping the bicep wound as it is one of the worse for wear ones that is going to be trickier for the body to heal by itself.

Jihoon doesn’t know how long he attends to Soonyoung’s wounds. It took several trips to get new towels to wipe away blood oozing, the fabric seeming to become broken when in contact with demon’s blood. After a while, the towel would tear, crumble in on itself. It appears cotton doesn’t do well with Soonyoung’s blood.

As gently as he can, he moves up closer to Soonyoung’s head, “It’s been three months and now you show up like you’ve been fighting with samurai,” Jihoon remarks under his breath. He takes a clean towel wetted with water as he sees Soonyoung’s black horns aren’t their normal color, coated in blood and dirt. The towel barely meets the horns, as a whine escapes Soonyoung’s parted lips not a moment later. Demons must be sensitive to touch with their horns, “Man up princey boy.”

Soonyoung’s eyes flutter open a moment later. A hazy gaze lingers as he stares at the ceiling, nothing to understand expect a questioning thought. Jihoon continues working on the horns, debating inwardly if he should give up and get Clorox wipes since those tend to clean hard surfaces better than water can.

“First staring at my tail and now touching my horns? You really are trying to get into my bed.” Soonyoung says through gritted teeth, eyes fluttering to meet Jihoon’s annoyed gaze. The damned demon has the audacity to smirk.

With a flick of his wrist, the towel harshly rubs against the left horn, forcing Soonyoung’s face to scrunch up in pain, “I wouldn’t be touching your stupid horns if you hadn’t been in my bed, half-dead when I got home.” Jihoon protests, moving onto the remaining dirtied horn with a huff.

“You could have left me alone, my body would have healed itself eventually.”

“It is not in my nature to leave things alone.”

“That’s dangerous.”

“So, Mr. Embodiment of Safety, what got you covered in blood?” Jihoon glares down at the demon, clearly amused by the agitation rising in Jihoon because of his words.

Soonyoung remains quiet. He bites his lip, eyes peeling away from Jihoon as he takes his time with answering. Jihoon looks away, concentrated on cleaning the horn to give the demon privacy. Something isn’t right for Soonyoung to have to think of how to answer a simple question, “My older brothers. We don’t always see the same resolution for every problem.”

“So instead of rationally talking it out, they beat you like this?” Jihoon questions, flabbergasted that older siblings would harm the youngest like this. Of all his friends, the ones who have younger siblings are protective over them, some nearly to the point of being too overprotective. He finishes with the horns, reaching for cotton pads to tenderly take care of the cuts on his cheeks, blood still slowly trickling out, “They sound deplorable.”

“Not all of them are disgraceful. The eldest of us, my sister who is up next to run Hell, is the one who usually quells the brawls before they start. She isn’t always able to protect me like she wants to hence this beating,” A sad smile rests on his lips as he talks about her. It turns into a pout as Jihoon rubs the antiseptic into the wound, “This disagreement was far worse than others, and I knew I couldn’t escape them if I ran to my room, so I ran here. Sorry about the sheets.”

Jihoon brushes it off, swiping away a stray drop of blood off the demon prince’s cheek. “At least it’s good to know they can’t follow you here. Right?” Jihoon suddenly pictures his apartment getting thoroughly trashed by a bunch of demon princes. His face pales at the thought. He barely had enough money to rent this place, much less afford to fix it.

“Right. It isn’t possible for them to follow me to you. They can feel I’m not in Hell anymore but can’t find me after that. Only Father, and my eldest sister and brother can talk to me directly while here. Though their abilities are limited so they can only see me, not my surrounds nor anyone in them.” Soonyoung explains.

He hums in thought, “Is that why you left so abruptly last time? It looked like you were looking at someone but all I saw was you staring at a blank wall.”

Soonyoung nods, rolling his head to the side to stare at the same wall as last time, “Yeah, my eldest brother Jeonghan was looking for me. He wasn’t happy that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.”

“Sorry, that was my fault then,” Jihoon looks at the cuts decorating Soonyoung’s back, noting there some that he should look at if he could get the demon to roll onto his stomach, “I called you after all.”

It appears Soonyoung can read his mind as the demon turns over fully, arms folding on the mattress, so his chin sits on his wrists, staring at Jihoon’s headboard, “I didn’t have to respond to your summoning incantation but I did, so don’t blame yourself. I’m used to being in trouble. It’s sort of my thing back home.”

Jihoon purses his lips, not liking the answer. In the end it doesn’t matter who’s fault it was, just that Soonyoung had to reap the consequences of it alone. Despite what most would think of a demon, so a blood-lusting monster whose only interest is causing pain, Soonyoung is anything but. He’s certain the prince could do just that if he so desired.

This demon, he dares to say is gentle in his personality. The way he talks of violence, like it is a thing he doesn’t enjoy. Allowing Jihoon to freak out on his own without antagonizing him further the first night they meet. Putting Jihoon in bed when he fell asleep that night when he said the first incantation and placing his slippers neatly for him in front of his bed, and right at the door.

It remains quiet while Jihoon attends to the wounds on Soonyoung’s back. It is a comfortable silence that they both relax in. The good thing is that Soonyoung’s tail doesn’t appear to have any injuries on it, because he doesn’t know if he could touch his tail after getting called out for staring the first night. It lies on the back of his legs, the end puffing up every so often as Jihoon moves about. Almost keeping a watch while Soonyoung’s eyes are facing away.

Once upon a time Jihoon would recoil at the amount of blood and soiled towels around him. It looks like enough red that an average human would be dead at this point. He doesn’t know what really drove him, as now that he’s starting to finish up on the prince’s injuries, his stomach is starting to revolt at the stale smell. It doesn’t help that he’s only really had is a few cups of coffee to keep him going. That is not enough to keep what little contents he has in stomach from coming back up his throat.

Hastily, he finishes up the wounds. Wrapping what can be wrapped and putting bandages on smaller cuts that he sees. Jihoon gathers up the supplies and darts to the bathroom to throw essentially everything away. Now that he gets a good look at the towels, they’ve shrunk to less than half their original size with the demon blood still disintegrating what is left. So much for saving the towels.

He pokes his head back out to see Soonyoung still lying on his stomach, eyes shut as he seems to have dozed off again. Jihoon allows himself to smile slightly as he watches the demon prince so peacefully out of it. That fight with his siblings must have taken a lot of energy out of him, and then to journey from Hell to here? He doesn’t know the capabilities of demons and their energy but there must be a max at some point.

Jihoon slips out of his bedroom door, shutting it as silently as possible as to not wake the sleeping demon. The kitchen lights flicker on as he walks into the room, rumbling through what things to eat he does have. There isn’t usually time for him to cook with his job’s odd hours, so most of the time he just purchases snacks and quick food to eat while on the run.

Pots cling together as he fumbles around for a pot big enough. He’s positive he can make a semi-decent broth with what ingredients he does have left after the last time he went grocery shopping. Soonyoung doesn’t look like he should be moving around too much. Any slight movement in the wrong direction could pull one of the healing wounds loose, no matter the speed his body heals at.

A simple broth should be enough to fill the demon up, and not upset his stomach too much. In addition, it’s going to ease the queasiness resting in Jihoon’s own body, the affair of the afternoon catching up to him now that he’s not fretting over the bleeding body on his bed.

It doesn’t take long for the broth to be finished, and he loads two bowls full onto a tray, shuffling back into his bedroom where Soonyoung stirs from his sleep, eyes blinking wearily. He turns himself around so his back is resting against the headboard as Jihoon settles onto the edge of the bed, “This should be easy on your stomach, nothing too much but still fulfilling.”

“Oh,” Soonyoung blinks quickly, staring at the broth. Jihoon thinks the demon hasn’t seen it before, “Thank you.”

He smiles and explains what is in the broth and shows Soonyoung what to do. What he should have seen was the demon prince downing his bowl of broth and finishing off Jihoon’s, “I guess I should have made more.” Jihoon gawks at the bottomless pit happily rubbing his stomach.

“That’s alright, I’ll get something when I’m home.” Soonyoung responds casually.

That doesn’t sit right with Jihoon, considering how long it took him to doctor the wounds inflicted by the Prince’s older siblings, “Are you really going to go back? After what they did to you?” Jihoon furrows his eyebrows as he stacks the bowls together, clutching onto the tray as he cleans up, “I’d rather you stay here for now then go back to them.”

“Do you really mean that?” Soonyoung’s mouth is dropped open in awe, eyes widened slightly as it seems no one has shown him kindness. His tail jerks once every second in anticipation, waiting for Jihoon’s answer.

His softening gaze meets Soonyoung’s hopeful eyes, “Of course. I don’t want you running back to the wolves so soon after I spent so long fixing you.”

Soonyoung’s eyebrows furrow at the analogy but doesn’t question it. Tilting his head with a smile adorning his precious lips. Now even his four canines seem utterly adorable to Jihoon, “Thank you Jihoonie.”

What Jihoon had intended to be a couple nights stay turned into him suddenly getting a roommate. He didn’t mind sleeping on his couch for the first few nights, considering his bed isn’t made for two people to sleep on it without touching. Soonyoung had offered to take the couch but Jihoon wasn’t having any of it, not with the injuries still healing.

Though when the last of the wounds healed, not leaving any scars behind only tanned, sun-kissed perfect skin, Jihoon wanted his bed back. They argued for hours until they came up with a compromise that should have been suggested from the start.

Soonyoung’s shadow powers can form a barrier on the bed, down the middle to separate the two. It doesn’t stop the covers from going to one side or the other, just their bodies. That turned into another lesson session though. Jihoon learned that regular demons don’t have powers like he does. The rest of the demon population are much like humans other than appearance, and with a bit more strength in their bodies.

It is the children of Satan that have powers. Soonyoung’s is shadows that bend to his will. If there is light to cast a shadow, he can manipulate them with only his mind. Jihoon also learned that if he gets angry enough, the shadows start to work around his body in a protective layering. The shadows also will dive into his body so if the light goes away, he is not disadvantaged in a fight.

The eldest sister inherited Satan’s own, which is an all-around power that tends to have a little bit of everything. Soonyoung also admitted that he’d be more terrified of her rather their father. Jihoon learns that she is the only sibling that treats him fairly, and thus the only one talked about. Though Soonyoung did mention his other siblings’ powers briefly. Jeonghan’s is the power of telekinesis and based on the fear that Soonyoung has within his eyes, Jihoon doesn’t wish to meet him.

Rather quickly, they fall into a comfortable rhythm. Jihoon is gone for most of the day at work while Soonyoung sits around the house. Often, Jihoon’s returned to see Soonyoung learning the dances to different songs, completely enthralled by the movements. It’s enduring sit and watch him do the dances just as brilliantly as the original idols.

After a while, Soonyoung started becoming more paranoid about not doing his duties. Jihoon learned that Soonyoung has more responsibilities than just the summoning director. Each of Satan’s children controls different aspects of Hell that keeps it running on course. With Soonyoung here, things are starting to unravel.

While Jihoon is away from the apartment, Soonyoung slips back to Hell only long enough to do his duties and return. Sometimes it happens during the middle of the night when Soonyoung knows his siblings aren’t attempting to keep him home. It works for most of the time. He was caught one time, and it drove Jihoon made as Soonyoung disappeared for a week. This time, Soonyoung was worse off than the first time Jihoon found him bruised and bloodied.

It’s been five months since Soonyoung’s started living with him, and Jihoon knows deep in his heart what’s happening to him. It started out as an unknown feeling that would happen every time Jihoon opened the door to see Soonyoung waiting for him, smiling to the point where his face might crack if he smiles any more. The demon’s superior hearing and smell could detect when Jihoon was close and greeted him every time.

It’s enduring to enter his home to see something different that gray boring walls that can’t speak. He enjoys Soonyoung asking him questions about his day, and in return, telling him what he’s done. Jihoon has never been one for conversation and Soonyoung doesn’t mind that. The demon is amazingly chatty, talking for them both and drawing Jihoon slowly out of his shell.

He doesn’t worry about covering his smile anymore when he laughs or hiding what he’s feeling if Soonyoung’s done something he doesn’t approve of. (Like going through his personal photos without asking beforehand) Or the time he stumbled upon Soonyoung eating raw meat in the middle of the night. Jihoon tried to continue being angry but Soonyoung sat there with a mouth nearly overflowing with raw meat, he reminded him of a five-year-old going absolutely ham with his birthday cake.  

The enjoyment of having Soonyoung around continued when the demon started to become interested in cooking. At first it was horrid attempts as it took him a bit of time to understand the oven. It took some convincing that if an item said to bake something for 10 minutes at 400 degrees that he can’t cook it for 1 minute at 4,000 degrees. That’s not how cooking works and Jihoon had to frantically stop Soonyoung from attempting to do just that when he turned his back for a second. Apparently in Hell, their oven could go way higher than any oven on Earth, but Soonyoung didn’t know that before Jihoon frantically rushed into the kitchen. It was a lesson learned the hard way.

Now though, Soonyoung really enjoys cooking. The demon is often on the computer going through blogs to try out new recipes so Jihoon can eat properly when he returns from work and not inhaling coffee to sit at the computer and do some more work. Soonyoung even implemented a rule that when Jihoon gets home from work, he’s not to work on anything until he gets to the studio the next day.

The first time they went shopping to get Soonyoung clothes that fit him, Jihoon was a nervous wreck. Soonyoung had assured him that with some sort of shadow ability, he can hide his horns from the view of humans without doing anything to them. The tail was an easy fix, though getting it to stay wrapped around Soonyoung’s thigh in the pants was a whole other dilemma. It took the promise of a game of Mario Kart before the demon agreed.

Every time a person looked at Soonyoung, Jihoon would get all clammy, worried they would point out the horns since he truly couldn’t tell if others saw them or not. It must be that the magic didn’t work on him. Possibly since he’s been living with the demon for a while, or the bonded shadow bracelet on his wrist immunes him to any effects that would hide the demon’s true form.

Jihoon has never been one to not admit to himself what he’s feeling. He will hide it for as long as he can from others. Especially the demon prince who holds his entire heart within his grasp. This arrangement isn’t meant to be permanent, they both know that. It’s what holds Jihoon back from showing any sort of affection for Soonyoung.

Another thing that halts him in his tracks is a conversation they had early on about their age differences. Jihoon is at the age of 24, not too young and not too old. Though Soonyoung is 457, which is apparently baby status in demon ages. Soonyoung has so much of his life to live, and if he’s grows too attached to Jihoon, what’ll happen when he withers away?

The roles don’t have to be reversed for Jihoon to know he can’t live in a world without Soonyoung anymore. He doesn’t want Soonyoung to not enjoy his long life if he’s mourning over Jihoon, years after he’s dead. It wouldn’t be fair to subject Soonyoung that torture while Jihoon’s resting in Heaven or Hell, whichever path is destined for him.

Soonyoung has become such a stable thing in his life, he can’t risk all that changing. Soonyoung is the calming wind that hails after a storm. The eye of a hurricane that is silent and still, a comforting break after the first harsh slaps of wind and water, and before the bitter end.

The world might have other plans in setting a demon in Jihoon’s path. Whomever controls what destiny each person follows, they dropped a demon in his path, but instead of pain accompanying the creature, he has brought nothing but happiness. Soonyoung is his demon prince that is secretly his angel. He doesn’t have an angel and demon resting on his shoulder like most, instead, they are both wrapped up into one. It’s all neatly bundled into a tall, long-legged, lanky man with flaming red hair attached with horns, fangs and a tail that smiles at him like he’s the only joy in the world.

The path laid before him will be rocky, but if he has his demon prince, Jihoon knows he’ll make it out alright.

Though some days seem like everything will crash and burn.

A few instances do make Jihoon question if Soonyoung feels the same way. There have been several occurrences where Jihoon will be doing something mundane, so boring, like cleaning the kitchen when he has time and there will be a sudden weight on his back. It’s not heavy in the physical sense. More of a caress of a comforting hand to help him. It bothered him at first, not understanding where it was coming from for when it began. But the times after, he would look over his shoulder to see Soonyoung watching him closely, eyes shining deep red.

Jihoon had returned quickly to scrubbing at the stove, face flushed deep scarlet. If there was another friendly demon, he would have a million questions to see if Soonyoung was trying to, in the old-fashioned way, to ‘court’ him. The demon prince doesn’t let him carry the groceries anymore, very insistent on handling all of them even if there are too many bags to carry for one person.

There are days when Jihoon is worked up, in a foul mood and easily agitated. Most of the time it’s due to stress at work, and there have been a few times he doesn’t get it resolved before going home. In those instances, he’d snap at Soonyoung for something he would normally find enduring and calming.

The instant Jihoon recognized the hurt flashing across the demon’s perfect face, he’d deflate into shame. Soonyoung’s lips would turn down into a frown, eyes hardening to where he can’t read what the demon is thinking. His tail would stop from happily wagging, falling to the floor to lay limp.

Jihoon would apologize immediately, and like an idiot, Soonyoung forgave him every time. Soonyoung would open his arms up and Jihoon would settle into his chest, hands calmly running through his hair as the demon tells a story of his siblings, about his day, or a new recipe he is excited to try. They would sit like that for hours, basking in each other’s warmth.

Neither side makes a move.

Today has been especially tiring as Jihoon’s parents made a surprise visit to the company, stressing Jihoon out as he tried to keep them in his studio. He hadn’t seen them in years and then suddenly, they made an appearance out of nowhere. Jihoon frantically sent a message to his computer at home, as it is the only form of communication to talk with Soonyoung during the day. He told him not to worry about dinner as he’ll be out late.

Jihoon finally escaped from dinner with his parents around ten at night, giving excuses about having a lot of work to do. It’s not a lie, as he does have work but that’s not getting touched until tomorrow. He misses his demon prince, likely sitting on the couch waiting for his return.

It seems that Soonyoung was anxious to see him too as the door to his apartment flies open when he’s barely stepped out of the elevator. Soonyoung’s entire form pops out of the door with a giant grin on his face, “I thought I was going to have to go out searching for you.”

“I think you’d turn the city upside down looking for me,” Jihoon admits, chuckling to himself at the thought of Soonyoung out in the streets of Seoul all by himself. It would be a bumbling toddler trying to walk alone for the first time.

Soonyoung shrugs his shoulders, agreeing in a way that he would turn the city on it’s back to look for Jihoon. He’d uproot the whole world to find his human, “Can we watch Iron Man again?” He asks, stepping back as Jihoon walks through the door, toeing off his shoes as Soonyoung locks the front door behind them.

“Of course,” Jihoon sets his phone down onto the counter turning to look at Soonyoung. The shadows that have finally connected once again jitter in happiness, they’ve never liked being apart from one another. His eyes roll up Soonyoung’s figure, noticing the lines of sweat causing the white tee to stick to his chest, “Though go take a shower while I set it up because you stink.” Jihoon scrunches up his nose, not truly bothered by the hot, and musky smell rolling off Soonyoung. He waves his hand in front of his nose for added effects.

The demon prince pouts silently and then sniffs his own shirt, sticking his tongue out as his nose seems to be more sensitive than Jihoon’s, “I would say I am wounded by that but it’s true, I smell pungent.” Soonyoung rushes off into the bedroom to shower.

Jihoon smiles softly, turning to the leaving room after watching Soonyoung rush off to clean up. He puts in the DVD, bopping his head back and forth to the title menu’s music as he pulls the giant pillows that they use especially for movie nights. They probably twice as big as normal pillows to where they can make a nest of sorts in the middle of the floor in front of the TV. Many blankets scatter the area as they usually fall asleep there, letting the credits lull them asleep until one wakes up just enough to turn it off before crawling back into the comfy make-shift bed.

He shuffles into the kitchen after finishing setting up the living room, pulling a bag of popcorn from the cupboard, and putting the bag into the microwave. As it cooks, he pulls out the other snacks he knows Soonyoung loves, sour gummy worms, Oreos, and a couple bottles of Soju from the fridge. The standard flavor for himself, and the grapefruit for Soonyoung; the demon is quite picky when it comes to alcohol surprisingly.

The shadow on his wrist dances excitedly, another effect of being Soonyoung’s gift. He started to notice it two months into Soonyoung’s permanent presence. Sometimes the shadows will react according to Soonyoung’s emotions, depending on how extravagant and grand they are. The line connecting the two jiggles in joy, jumping at different intervals down the line. In a way they look like wavelengths, ranging in their sizes and lengths when something happens.

Beeps make him jump slightly, turning on his heel to see the microwave yelling at him. He leans down to pull the popcorn bowl out of the cabinet, pressing the button to open the door. The heat blasts him in the face, pulling the bag out of the microwave. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Soonyoung walking out of the bedroom door. Dressed in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

The bag slips from Jihoon’s grasp, luckily only to fall onto the counter. Jihoon’s eyes bug out of his head, stuck on the toned chest he’s managed to not see since first doctoring his demon roommate. Water droplets still dripping down his chest that was sculpted by an artist and brought to life. Jihoon’s eyes sting as he has yet to blink, unable to look away from the chiseled form of Soonyoung.

His face heats up, blushes running throughout his body as ideas of running his hands slowly over each curve of Soonyoung’s body. Caressing the thin, but still muscled biceps of the demon prince. He wants to walk his fingers down the slope between Soonyoung’s pecs, seeing how they do rise slightly from his chest.

Jihoon snaps his eyes back to Soonyoung’s face, seeing the demon’s face contorted in confusion. Eyebrows knitted together as he peers at the door, nose slightly sniffing every so often. He sighs and turns his back to Soonyoung, glad that he had no idea about Jihoon’s staring.

This more curious and silent randomness threw Jihoon for a loop at first. Now though it’s normal to see Soonyoung alert at any new scent that enters the apartment’s floor. It went on for a while until he got used to the residents on the floor, though this attitude resurfaces when his neighbors bring over new guests. Jihoon quickly empties the popcorn into the bowl and shuffles to the living room, eyes glued to the floor as he passes by the nearly naked demon who makes his way towards the door.

He thanks whoever is keeping Soonyoung’s interest now to let Jihoon’s face return to a normal color. He’s managed to keep his feelings for the prince to himself for five months, he’s not about to let that record fail any time soon.

The pillows welcome him as he sinks into their fluffy goodness, closing his eyes for a moment to bask in the relaxing comfort of home. His peace is interrupted as the doorbell chimes, and before he can make a move to get up, Soonyoung is opening the door.

Silence invokes within the space of the entire room. From where he sits on the living room floor, he can see five pairs of eyes wide like a deer in headlights. Jihoon’s shoulders slump, staring blankly at the ceiling, eyes slowly closing as he gives up, there being no way to erase their minds from what the kids are currently staring at. A hint of jealousy flares up inside him though as they get to stare while he can’t. No, he’s not pouting. There are twelve seconds of silence before his kids start screaming.

Jihoon bites his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing at the panicked expression on Soonyoung’s face. His arms are wrapped around his chest, trying to hide his body from the kids who aren’t shutting up. It’s probably best if he saves the demon prince before he combusts and disappears into thin air on the spot.

As he draws closer though, he hears the kids now arguing over something. Seungkwan and Seokmin and standing off, Seungkwan holding his hand out, “Fork it over dickwad! I fucking told you hyung has a boyfriend.”

“Just because you see a half-naked man in his apartment doesn’t mean he has a boyfriend. He could be one-night stand for all you know!” Seokmin counters, batting away Seungkwan’s hand.

Chan slips between them all, peering into the living room, eyes lighting up in mischief, “Oh it’s definitely a boyfriend, hyung has the living room set up for a movie date.”

Seungkwan smirks, holding his hand out to Seokmin, “Give me the 30,000 won as promised for winning a bet you really shouldn’t have made.”

“That was a bad move Seok, hyung always makes good music. It was bound to happen that his songs became more romantic when he finally got a boyfriend.” Hansol says, watching as Seokmin curses under his breath and pulling the money from his wallet.

Minghao steps up closer to Soonyoung, mumbling something in Chinese that startles Soonyoung. The demon prince backs up and hides behind Jihoon who has walked into the chaos. He can’t believe what he is hearing. The little shitheads made a bet. A fucking bet. He places both hands on his hips, glaring at the fouls still arguing amongst themselves, “So let me get this straight. There was a bet going on about whether I’m dating someone… Because the songs are better written?”

The kids line up in a row as best they can, all nodding with shit-eating grins on their faces. Minus Seokmin who is now out some money. Minghao stares over Jihoon’s shoulder, intensely dissecting Soonyoung, “He’s not exactly the type of guy I saw you dating hyung.”

Jihoon sighs heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Well sorry to burst-”

“That’s right, I’m the boyfriend.”

The room drops several degrees. A cold shiver racing down Jihoon’s spine as he knows that Soonyoung did not just say what he thinks he said. From the smirking faces of all five kids, the demon prince did say exactly that. It almost feels comical the way Jihoon slowly turns to see the same smile on Soonyoung’s face.

He drags his hands down his face, pulling at the skin of his eyes hoping they’ll up and roll out of his skull, “Kids go sit in the living room, and don’t even think of running off or else I’ll make sure the choreography kills you for the next title track. Got it?” His anger ripples through each of their bodies like a line. Despite his threat, they are still smiling as they rush off to the living room, immediately eating the popcorn not meant for them.

Soonyoung innocently cocks his head, tilting down to look at Jihoon, “What’s wrong?”

“Let’s go,” Jihoon says, hastily walking to his room to escape the demon’s eyes. His shoulder shake as he enters the room, eyes cast down as he waits until the last of Soonyoung’s tail is fully in the room before slamming the door shut. Soonyoung jumps at the sudden harsh noise, a frown resting on his face as Jihoon refuses to look at him, “Get dressed first, then we’ll talk.”

The demon nods and shuffles off into the bathroom. Jihoon pokes his head out the door, hearing the kids have started the movie without them. It was the best option considering Jihoon knows this is going to be a long conversation he never wanted to have to begin with. If he manages to get out of this without having to speak what he feels for Soonyoung, the better.

A minute later, Soonyoung steps out of the bathroom dressed in large gray t-shirt and black sweatpants, “Please speak, I don’t like when you are angry with me.”

Jihoon grimaces, hating everything about the current moment, “Why did you say that?”

Soonyoung’s face twists in confusion, nose twitching at something as he sits on the bed and crossing his legs to make himself as small as possible, “Because it’s true.”

Jihoon massages his temples, feet moving on instinct as he starts pacing towards the desk on the far side of his bedroom and back again, “Do you know what boyfriend means? I’m sure you do. Why would you lie to them?” The blank look on Soonyoung doesn’t go away, only morphing into defeat as the demon’s tail wraps around his waist. Jihoon knows he’s upset him, but he can’t see past his own anger this time to apologize.

“It’s not a lie,” Soonyoung’s voice is impossibly small. Like that of a child who has been scolded for doing what they were told to do, and still getting in trouble over it. He’s drawn into himself, arms wrapped around his legs, “I know what it means, and I wouldn’t lie about something like that. You know me, Hoonie.”

He’s right. Soonyoung wouldn’t lie if he knew Jihoon would be angry with him. It has happened before when Soonyoung wouldn’t tell him what his siblings did to him when he returned from Hell one time. They got in an argument that ended when they agreed to never lie to one another for the fear of hurting one or the other, for both of their safeties, “We must be shit at communication because I know we’ve never discussed our feelings with each other. Believe me, I don’t want to breach this subject at all.”

Jihoon isn’t trying to be harsh, but it’s the only way he knows to guard his heart from getting hurt. Pushing others away, to keep them from getting to close or falling for him, worthless Jihoon who’s life is meaningless and boring. He’s not the dating type for anyone. He hates the way the words he spoke seem to have slapped Soonyoung in the face.

They stay in heated silence until Soonyoung looks deep into Jihoon’s eyes, a tear slipping down his cheek, “Your soul has.”

“What?” Jihoon asks, heart beating rapidly in his chest. Sooner or later it might break through his ribcage to run right into Soonyoung, “You can’t just say that and not say anything else. Tell me what it means.” The beating of his heart drums in his ears, cutting out every other sound than the demon’s voice that sits before him.

“Humans can’t detect souls like demons or angels, but not only do we feel it in our hearts when we like someone, our souls are involved. Not long after I had been living with you, your soul touched mine, and I accepted because I feel the same way.” Soonyoung pulls his eyes away from Jihoon, raising up the black bracelet tattoo on his wrist to gaze at it, “It’s why you can feel my emotions through this. The condition of the summoning changed from me being a servant to your soul to a lover. I can feel what you feel, and right now you’re terrified. Though you are terrified of me more than anything else right now.”

Jihoon would gander that terrified is an understatement. The floor is falling out from under him, sending him spiraling into a black hole as he filters through the words. He thought first meeting a mythical being was difficult, well, this is ten times that and more stressful than being in a room with his parents for three hours. He’d much rather fall into a pit of snakes than be in this room currently, “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”

A roar from the other side of the door turns both of their heads, silent for a moment to see if the kids are spying or not, “I often forget you aren’t like me. It slipped my mind that you wouldn’t understand as easily as I do. We’ve grown up in different worlds and despite that, when I’m with you, I just see you. My world. The one where I belong.”

“Oh, uh that’s nice. Yeah _nice_ ,” Jihoon’s brain short-circuits at the sweetest words someone has ever said to him before. Likely his cheeks are colored the same as Soonyoung’s hair, bright red at the statement. The words play at his heart, because yes that is what he desperately wants. To cradle Soonyoung’s precious face and plant kisses all over. To hold him close and protect him from everything trying to harm him. That includes himself, “No matter how much I want to. We can’t.”

“Why?” Soonyoung snaps quickly, eyebrows furrowing in how stubborn Jihoon is being. Despite the one that would get the sweeter end of the deal, Jihoon couldn’t force Soonyoung to live without him if they get too attached to one another.

Jihoon frowns, seeing as he is the only one who has thought about this scenario. He sits on the edge of the bed, facing Soonyoung, “Our lifespans are entirely different. I’ll die in the blink of an eye compared to your age. I’ll age, grow wrinkles and grow to wither away while you remain to look like you’re in your twenties.” Jihoon explains, eyes cast downward to stare at the gray comforter bundled up between them, “You’ll have to live on without me, and I know if roles were reversed, I couldn’t do it. I already have difficulty being away from you for a day.”

A hum trails from Soonyoung’s lips that are turned up slightly, “I’d rather experience anything I can with you while we have this time right now together,” Soonyoung’s hand reaches across the sheets, the one with the shadow tattoo wrapped around his wrist, his fingers reaching Jihoon’s, “Plus when we die, we are reincarnated so all I have to do is find you in your next life.”

“It feels selfish of me to want this, knowing the pain it will cause you later,” Jihoon admits, his own hand with the shadow tattoo bracelet turning Soonyoung’s hand over so the demon’s palm faces up, he lightly traces the lines in his skin with his fingers, “I’m afraid that with reincarnation, I wouldn’t remember you at all.”

Soonyoung curls his fingers to encase Jihoon’s within his grasp, thumb lightly grazing down the side of his hand in a gentle caress, “I’d find you, somehow, someway, and get the chance to fall in love with you again,” The now short line between the two tattoos dances with joy. A dance one does around a campfire, purely enjoying the moment as music flows throughout the trees and into the night sky. The dark shadows move on their own, racing to one another to be connected as one, “I choose to look at the positive aspects rather than the negative ones. Pain is a part of life, and if I must go through it to continue to love you, well, I’d do it without a second thought.”

“I really don’t deserve you,” Jihoon admits, ignoring the tear that slips down his cheek, “I’m glad I fucked up that spell.”

“The summoning incantation to be precise,” Soonyoung corrects, flipping their hands again and pulling till his lips connect with the back of Jihoon’s hand.

Jihoon waits till Soonyoung meets his gaze again, glaring at him. It’s rendered ineffective as the blush covering his face is not contained, “I’m going to let that slide for now but,” He pauses, rubbing his neck in anticipation, “Can we take this slow, just to see how it goes? I’ve never been great at relationships.”

“Good thing I am,” Soonyoung chides, winking as Jihoon pulls his hand away, any idea of letting him off the hook is gone out the window with the demon now teasing him.

A question pops into his head. One that he doesn’t know if Soonyoung can answer but maybe it’ll get the demon to reconsider dating him. He truly is trying to save them both but the demon prince’s methods of being himself is hard to argue against, “Ok what if I’m reincarnated as let’s say a cockroach,” Jihoon raises his eyebrows, hands tapping his nose in thought, “You wouldn’t want me then huh?”

In contrast to what Jihoon would have responded, Soonyoung laughs. He can spot the four long canines as Soonyoung is truly amused by the thought, “I’ve never found cockroaches cute but if you were one, I’d call them cute. I’d take you home with me and built you a cockroach sized castle so you can live a lavish life as a prince’s pet.”

“Oh, you really are stupid,” Jihoon mocks, sticking his tongue out at the demon. If Soonyoung was a cockroach, or any other sort of insect, he wouldn’t hesitate to shoo him off or kill him. So long as he doesn’t know any better. Bugs have short lives, it’s easy to have no sympathy for the creepy crawlers. Though picturing Soonyoung caring for a bug is amusing, and he can see the stupid grin decorating his equally stupid face, “It’s a good thing that you are my type.”

“So, your type is a demon prince?”

“No, my type is morons. Morosexual if you will.”

“That’s highly unfair considering we share a brain cell.”

“I don’t know whether to be proud or ashamed of you learning about memes,” Jihoon huffs, shaking his head as he pushes the comforter aside to crawl closer to Soonyoung. He wraps his arms around the demon’s neck, fingers playing with the red strands of hair he can reach, “I can’t leave you alone with the kids or else you really will be ruined.”

Soonyoung’s arms come to rest on Jihoon’s waist, leaning forward so their foreheads are touching. Noses lightly brush against one another, and Jihoon is glad he doesn’t need his glasses so up close to Soonyoung. Now he can see the light in the demon’s eyes, how without any lights on the room, they shine like stars. It’s the most beautiful thing.

A tickling sensation has his nose scrunching up, with in turn has Soonyoung’s nose twitching. Though in contrast to Jihoon’s confused expression, the mischievous glimmer is shining in Soonyoung’s eyes. Jihoon pulls away, leaning back far enough to see the end of the demon prince’s tail tickling the underside of his chin. The tiny hairs have his insides turning, wanting to get as far away as possible. But he’s locked in place by Soonyoung’s arms. Jihoon screams internally, yelling out in protest, “Put that _thing_ back in your pants or so help me god I will chop it off!!!”

That night turned into a babysitting festival as the kids all fell asleep in the living room by the time they decided to stop cuddling and check up on them. So, Jihoon and Soonyoung cover them all in blankets before going to sleep in their bed.

 

 

 

 

 

They awoke the next morning to start breakfast for the gang, shuffling around the kitchen quietly until they heard the voices of the kids strolling into the kitchen, following the smell of pancakes.

Jihoon didn’t think much of the kids’ suggestive looks until he heard a loud crash to see Soonyoung had dropped the pan, face turning a purplish shade what he assumes is a demon flushing. He turns to glance over his shoulder, listening into the kids’ conversations, “Hyung really didn’t need to shout loud enough about Soonyoung-hyung whipping his dick out for the whole apartment complex to hear.”

A laugh bubbles within his chest. He uses a hand to cover his mouth, seeing Soonyoung tilts his head at the words. It clicks a moment later as they make the connection. The kids all stand at attention as their elders began to laugh uncontrollably, Jihoon leaning against the counter as Soonyoung falls to the floor in hysterical giggles.

If only they knew what Jihoon was really talking about would they have laughed too instead of staring at them like they were crazy.

Seoul is not known for being a calm, and quiet city. No, Seoul is loud, always alive with activity, people out and about. It’s rare to see the city so quiet. Jihoon is usually in a rush to get where he needs to be but tonight, he walks slowly towards the subway entrance, enjoying the tranquility of a calm Seoul.

He does admit that it being closer to midnight on a Monday evening isn’t exactly the ideal time to be out on the town. Even in the richer district of Gangnam where he’s currently just finished a meeting with a more well-off company who’s been sourcing out songs from their idols for him to look over. Originally, he was only supposed to meet with the other producers to all agree on final touches, but it turned into Jihoon helping the rookie girl group record, giving them tips and pointers of what to do better.

Now he gets to go home to a boyfriend who lights up brighter than the sun each time he walks through the door. Never failing to make Jihoon mushy inside, heart falling deeper for the demon prince.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been over a year now since they’ve been living together, and two days ago was their six-month anniversary. For the first month, Jihoon was still trying to convince Soonyoung they weren’t worth it because Soonyoung must live on when he passes. Soonyoung never gave in, beating Jihoon out in the end.

Since then, Jihoon has been falling and falling into a deep abyss that is Soonyoung. Nearly every thought that runs through his head is about his firecracker with horns and tail. All the songs he writes originates from thought about Soonyoung, or something cheesy and romantic he did to get Jihoon to blush from head to toe. He’s entirely smitten with the demon prince and doesn’t regret a single thing.

Soonyoung is his angel. Who ironically, is the opposite of an angel in physical form. Jihoon likes to think that he’s manifested the clip from Lilo & Stitch where she asked for the nicest angel, and it cuts to Stitch laughing menacingly. Except everyone who has meet Soonyoung would say that Jihoon is Stitch. He’s almost overprotective of Soonyoung, who, in Jihoon’s defense is careless with his tail and horns. There have been more than a few instances where things randomly go flying without anything near them.

Sooner or later Jihoon is going to have a heart attack with trying to keep his boyfriend’s identity a secret.

Seungcheol often comments on how easily jealous Jihoon gets. It’s a no brainer his boyfriend is the most beautiful, handsome and striking man on the planet, he knows that… and so do other people. When they are out, sometimes people will try talking to Soonyoung, flirting and lightly touching his shoulder. Soonyoung, being the nice guy that he is, is very oblivious to it all. The kids describe his jealousy as a little fire-engine on the way to a burning house. Sirens blaring as he moves almost inhumanely possible to wrap himself around Soonyoung and scaring others off as he hisses like a cat.

Minghao once gifted him cat ears as a joke, it thoroughly enthralled Soonyoung to no end.

The past year, his life has been amazing. Life is looking up for him with a good batch of friends, work isn’t so bad as it is enjoyable for him, and the best boyfriend in the world. He smiles to himself, hands shoved into his hoodie’s front pocket as his eyes watch the ground. One foot in front of the other with the entrance to the subway not too far ahead with the lights of the opening shining brightly to light his way home. Into the arms of the person most dear to him.

His steps are light, almost making no sound as he silently walks. Not many people are out, only a few further ahead of him, and people walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the street. It’s a gentle night in Seoul, not something so commonly said about the living city.

A dark sensation makes him shiver, a rush down his back that nearly blows his hood off his head. The rush of wind has him stopping, peering at the surroundings. The tree not far from his current position hasn’t moved. Not a single limb, not a leaf, nothing. The trash littered on the sideway hasn’t scattered across the concrete. The wind isn’t real, and it’s something supernatural.

Jihoon looks ahead, pretending he’s not noticing something is wrong. The heavy weight on his back alerts him to the idea that someone, or something is watching him. He clenches his jaw and takes a deep breath, fully intending on moving forward to home.

That is if his legs would let him move. He peers down at his legs, as they won’t budge. Lead weighs them down as he can only twist his upper body, feet stuck to the ground. Panic rises in his throat as he looks up for anyone else witnessing him sticking to the ground. Only now, he doesn’t see a single living person walking anymore. There aren’t any headlights of cars on the road, no sounds of buses or voices to be heard. Simply utter silence, granting Jihoon the knowledge he is truly alone.

It’s when he gets a jolt, looking down at his feet now sinking into the concrete. Fear rises in his throat, wanting to scream for help despite knowing no one will hear him. The cracking of the concrete with no source of the reason makes him freeze, watching a circle cut itself around his feet imbedded into it. With little hope, he tries to pull his leg up, seeing it fail as suddenly the circle of concrete lifts into the air, yanking him quickly down the thin side street to his right.

Jihoon’s heart picks up speed to keep up with his rapid breathing as he tries to hold his balance. The concrete circle under him is picking up speed as it twists and turns down different dark alleys, easily off setting Jihoon as to where he doesn’t recognize anything familiar anymore. He throws his hands out to keep his balance, nearly tipping over a few times at the jerking motions of the concrete underneath him.

Suddenly, he is whipped around a corner, with nothing but brick walls ahead indicating a dead end. The concrete makeshift lift isn’t slowing down, heading straight for the wall. Jihoon squeezes his eyes shut, holding his arms up to protect his face, waiting for the harsh impact to crush his fragile body.

The picture behind his eyelids is that of a smiling Soonyoung. All four canines brightly shining as he grins widely, laughing to his heart’s content. If Jihoon could get that painted and hung in his studio, he would never get any work done. A small hope sits in his stomach as he prays that Soonyoung can feel his spike in fear through their connection. Though even if the demon prince comes to his rescue, he’ll likely already be gone.

 _Find me quickly in my next life_ , he wishes _, I can’t wait to fall for you all over again._

 “I’d say it’s luck I’ve stumbled upon you.”

A man’s voice says, tearing Jihoon’s eyes open to see the dead end in front of him, the concrete circle gone from under his feet, now standing on his own legs. Jihoon stays where he is, giving a light lift to both of his legs to see that he can move once again but remains still. It’s likely that he was brought to the back of a long alleyway with few lights overhead, and not another person around.

“Though I’ve been waiting to find you for a while now. It’s been obnoxiously difficult that my patience has finally worn thin.” The man’s tone is underlying with a threat that the velvet, and soft voice masks with simplicity. Jihoon takes a deep breath, gathering all the courage he must turn.

Much like the first time he saw a demon, the humanoid parts stick out first to him. The man before him is tall, much taller and lankier than Soonyoung is. He has blond hair that appears to stop at his shoulders, pulled back into a low ponytail. Eyes that of a snake, cool and collected and knowing how to capture its next meal. Lips thin, and pulled into a confident smirk, he can almost see the split tongue flickering every so often between his lips.

The demon is dressed in a fancy dark blue three-piece suit, one that Jihoon would gather is a designer brand. Either from Earth, or Hell. This man oozes regal, shoulders held back, and head tilted up, showing that he knows his place. And it’s above everyone else.

The non-human portions are quite different compared to his Soonyoung’s. This demon’s horns are tightly curled like that of a ram, placed more on the side of his head rather than the top. They are a deep brown with grooves littering the outside with the tips pointed back towards his head. His tail is large, much thicker than Soonyoung’s as it is sleek like that of a snake’s, yet not as flexible. It is not covered in tiny hairs, instead simply skin that ends in a point with no puff of hair at the end. The tail appears to not move according to the demon, more so an accessory and a nuisance.

“I think you’ve got the wrong person,” Jihoon says, looking away quickly as to not stare. Perhaps if he pretends that he doesn’t see the horns or tail, then this demon will agree with him. If he pretends that he doesn’t see anything wrong with his form, then it’s a chance to get out of this encounter unscathed. Jihoon hopes he can outsmart a demon whose senses are heightened to a standard he can’t comprehend, “I’m just a lowly music producer. No one of importance.” His eyes roam around the alley he’s cornered in, and the only weapon at his disposal are long pieces of tattered sheet metal.

The demon cocks an eyebrow, walking closer to Jihoon with his hands pulled behind his back, “I agree you are of no actual importance,” It’s a venomous bite, meant to pain. This demon’s fangs hang down below his upper lip, but it seems those are more for show, “However you are the _wretched_ bug who has the youngest of Satan’s children wrapped around his finger.”

Oh, so it isn’t himself that the demon is after.

It’s his Soonyoung.

“If I am to guess, your plan is to kill me and take him back to Hell with you. It’s the only reason why you would approach me.” Jihoon remarks, taking a hasty step towards the demon. He stands tall, shoulders still shaking in fear but his eyes still in their battle of glares with unnatural creature before him.

The demon smirks, tilting his head and lets out a huff of amusement at Jihoon trying to act braver than he is. He isn’t phased by Jihoon in the slightest, face at ease with relaxation. Though a glimmer of humor lingers in the way he holds himself. He’s only playing with Jihoon, getting a kick out of pushing him around before he kills him, and goes after Soonyoung, “Oh the bug does have a brain. Though I think a rock could have figured it out.”

Jihoon tightens his jaw, stopping himself from jarring back at the demon, who knows his remarks are bothering him. The demon doesn’t hesitate to let it be known that Jihoon will be dead in a second if he attempts to do so much as try to run. Likely he’ll be drowning in a puddle of his own blood within two steps, “So why am I still alive right now?”

“Don’t think you will get a quick death no,” The demon tilts his head down, one side of his lips drawn up in a wicked smirk as he peers at Jihoon through his eyelashes. With his heart beating rapidly, and sweat beating down his forehead, he realizes how lucky he was to encounter Soonyoung. Because his Soonyoung isn’t a demon, no. This is a demon, pure and simple, “I plan to draw it out so long, you’ll crave death. Begging at my feet like the dog you are.”

“At least I’ve been upgraded from a bug,” Jihoon hisses.

The demon narrows his eyes, “The dog has a mouth on him,” With elegant grace, the demon raises holds out his right hand, two fingers swiping up towards Jihoon, “I think I’d rather you be muzzled.”

Jihoon freezes in his place, watching as the pieces of sheet metal begin moving on their own, unprompted by a force acting upon them as they rise into the air. In a split second, they’ve taken off towards Jihoon, and he bolts forward trying to make a run for it and pass the demon in a chance he’s off his guard.

Though Jihoon being an idiot and praying for a chance, is the wrong action to take. The demon doesn’t move a muscle as the sheets of metal catch up with him. They drag him back, feet scuffling along the ground as he tries to stop himself, do anything to keep him grounded. The sheet metal doesn’t slow their speed as they force Jihoon back against the brick wall, head slamming against it as he grunts out at the pressure. He can’t feel the ground anymore, feet dangling as they try to reach anything below him. All he is met with his air.

He tilts his head to the side, seeing as the metal bends and twists around his body, molding, almost fusing to the wall. The edges of the metal cut into his skin, holding him to the wall at his waist, feet, and by the biceps on his arms. Jihoon shouts in pain, fear and anger, breath heavy as he pulls, pulls and pulls at the metal but to no avail, he’s stuck.

The final piece of metal is aimed right his face, and it is slower than the rest. Jihoon jerks his head to stop and keep it getting closer, yet his struggling does nothing. The metal wraps around his mouth, several layers to make sure he is silenced, muzzled like a dog. His voice is stripped from him, and now he’s completely at the demon’s mercy.

The fear courses through his veins. A gazelle attempting to outrun a whole pride of lionesses who are starving, thirsty for blood. It’s the circle of life, and he is the prey with a broken leg with no sign of escape in sight. He shuts his eyes, willing the tears to stay deep within him. This is no time to cry. He will not give the demon satisfaction to see his tears.

He takes deep breaths, clenching his fists as he thinks back on all the knowledge he knows about demons. The few facts or tales Soonyoung has told him that might be useful. Regular demons don’t have powers like Soonyoung. So, that leaves Satan’s blood family left. He’s unaware of some of Soonyoung’s siblings’ powers are but he’s for certain that one was telekinesis. That means…

“The lightbulb seems to have finally flickered on I see,” Jeonghan says, now close enough to Jihoon that all the demon has to do is lean down slightly and their noses will be touching, “I’m glad my darling baby brother has told you about me. I thought that since he’s been gone from home for an entire year, you might like to meet _someone_ of his family.”

All Jihoon can do is hang there from his metal clad cage. This is one of the esteemed brothers that enjoys beating on Soonyoung. Tearing him to shreds and nearly killing him. It sounds out of character for one to now seek out Jihoon and see who is dating their punching bag.

Any hope of Soonyoung coming to save him is gone, fully knowing the power difference between the oldest son of Satan, and the youngest. Soonyoung said he wasn’t anywhere near the caliber of his two eldest siblings. The eldest of them all, Satan’s heir, the sister who tried to shield Soonyoung… and the eldest son, Jeonghan who if Jihoon had to guess, is the embodiment of all what people believe demons are.

Jeonghan stands tall, peering down at Jihoon as he uses a single finger to trace along the metal covering his mouth, “If you weren’t so mouthy, I would have liked to hear your screams. It would bring me joy to hear such sweet sounds rising from your throat,” The fire in Jeonghan’s eyes is a sight Jihoon has never seen. Pure and utter chaos enthralled by the idea of cruelty to another. This is something beyond than Jihoon being Soonyoung’s human lover, but he can’t place what is missing, “I can’t wait for Soonyoung to see you dead at my feet.”

The thought has Jihoon dropping his eyes to the ground. Images flash before his finish, blurry yet unmistakable. Jihoon’s mangled corpse lying in a puddle of his own blood with Jeonghan standing over him and Soonyoung, fallen on his knees, with tears streaming down his face. Soonyoung would blame himself for it all, and spiral into a pit of despair, losing himself along the way.

“Firstly, I’d like to play with this special piece of magic,” Jeonghan’s tongue flickers out, and Jihoon unmistakably sees the split tongue. Jihoon can’t turn his head but when Jeonghan raises his hand, the nails sharp to a point like the deadly point of a bear’s claw. With the tips of his index and middle finger they begin to run down Jihoon’s neck, pausing briefly at his jugular before rolling over his shoulder and down his right arm.

“ _Mmph_!” Jihoon tries to say anything, to refuse and _plead_ as it strikes him where Jeonghan is aiming for first. He fights and struggles, pulling at his right arm with all his strength left to pull it free and hide it from Jeonghan. His vision becomes watery as Jeonghan’s sharp fingernails dig into Jihoon’s wrist, right before his shadowy tattoo that connects him to Soonyoung.

“I wonder if it is possible to cancel the contract. Obviously, the normal way is for you to die but that won’t be as entertaining will it? No, perhaps there are loopholes? A simple test could be to chop your arm off and see, but likely it would appear on another part of your body. Not much fun in that. No, but what if I tear your skin apart, or if singe the skin off completely? Likely the same situation, it’ll appear somewhere else. Perhaps for a while I will simply toy with you to see if anything can sever it. We are dealing with old, ancient magic after all.”

Jihoon can only writhe in panic, shouting out pleas to stop doing anything to him except touch his link to Soonyoung. Of course, nothing is going to stop a man, nor a demon with a goal in mind.

The nails drag from his skin, onto the tattoo, and Jihoon can see out of the corner of his eye at the shadows panicking. They reach upwards, and almost towards Jihoon like he can do anything to help them in his current state. The pain is unreal, something unlike he’s ever felt before. A box of nails failing sharp tip first into his eyes. A bat to the back of the head, a knee to the groin, all packed into two single nails digging into his flesh wrapped up into one.

Scream rip through his throat, muffled by the metal. The shadows whirl in pain, turning at ghastly angles rather than their usual slithery, smooth motions. This is pure panic setting in as Jeonghan’s nails do in fact tear Jihoon’s skin from his wrist, the shadow following along with it as more and more skin is pulled from his body. Tears spill down his cheeks without regard, voice unable to combat the pain, unable to dissociate from it all and pretend he’s elsewhere.

His head thrashes back and forth, his skin being torn by the demon and rubbed raw by the metal holding him to the wall. There is a deep dark thought that vaguely comes to his mind. He wouldn’t be in this situation if he hadn’t fallen for Soonyoung. If he had let the demon go home after doctoring him that night so long ago and went on with his life, likely to never see the demon prince again.

The horror that runs through his mind at the thought has his sobs stuttering. He feels guilty for thinking of regretting falling for Soonyoung. His perfect demon prince who’s a great cook, a better dancer, and all he could ever want in a best friend and lover. Jihoon treasures the little things that Soonyoung does that irks him. The way the apartment must be in perfect order constantly. According to Soonyoung everything has a place, even the junk drawer in the kitchen is orderly arranged.

Jihoon doesn’t have a right to be mad about it but Soonyoung often will disappear for hours on end without telling him where he’s going. He doesn’t need to know what he’s up to, but it eases his heart if he knows where Soonyoung is, and to know that he is safe. Most of the time it is simply back to Hell, but that does nothing to ease Jihoon’s heart. When Soonyoung returns though, he’s in a bad place, temper flaring and often snapping at Jihoon. He hates to see the demon gloomy afterwards, seeing the damage he’s done.

The pain brings him back from his own mind, watching through his tears as Jeonghan leans in towards his wrist, fangs sinking into the skin that remains with his shadow tattoo. This feeling of pure agony is unlike anything he’s ever felt. Teeth being pulled from his skull, limbs being torn from their sockets, piranhas biting at every part of skin they can reach. It’s that amplified by a thousand. It’s searing through his entire body, but it’s most painful as the shadow is ripped from his body, the skin hanging from Jeonghan’s lips.

The demon still manages to smile, and Jihoon feels his consciousness fading as the feeling of the demon before him eating away at his soul continues. A blood curdling scream rips through his throat, only to be muffled by the metal one last time before his head drops and blackness consumes him. The pain is too much for his fragile body to handle.

 

 

 

 

 

“Aw out like a light so soon?” Jeonghan mutters around the pieces of flesh still hanging from his lips. Human skin hasn’t been his favorite, but that is not the satisfaction he loves so much. No, flesh tastes quite bland, often unappealing unless one is starving. It reminds him of rusting metal, unwanted and a mess to deal with. He darts his tongue out getting the last of the flesh inside his mouth and further spreading the worthless mutt’s blood over his lower face, “I expected to play with you more.”

Jeonghan purrs in satisfaction as he stares down at his hands soaked up to his wrist in the mongrel’s blood. He loves the way it flows so quickly, as if to escape the fate he has forced it to go down. He extends his index finger and thumb of both hands, holding them to frame his play toy’s face. Despite the subject being out cold, his face still exhibits the pain, and it fills his soul with satisfaction.

His favorite art is that bathed in blood as it brings someone to their knees in agony. It makes others feel the suffering he’s experienced, and he can’t wait to see that written all over his precious baby brother’s face. It’ll do Soonyoung good to harden him to the harsh realities of the world, that even them, princes of Hell, do not get everything they desire.

The blood smears between his fingers and he raises his hands to run over his face, hair and down his neck, coating himself in his victim’s blood. Despite not needing to make a display of his strength, bathing in the blood of people is a rather exciting way to show others he is not one to take on. All the demons know, both in Hell and on Earth know it. His younger siblings know it. The only ones he truly must be careful of are is his father, leader of Hell; and his older sister, the heir to Hell. That is if he doesn’t kill her before she inherits the domain. Though he still has a while before he needs to make a power move, until then, Jeonghan will work from under them to overthrow Hell and do things his way.

Jeonghan thrives in a world where he is on top, knowing it will be a while before he can make attempts. For now, he is stuck staring at the ugly mug of his brother’s human lover, “What’s so special about you?” Jeonghan wills the metal wrapped around the bug’s mouth to unravel itself, floating off to the side to await orders. With a single blood coated finger, Jeonghan lifts the bug’s head up, twisting to back and forth to peer at the distasteful thing, “All I see is a soul that is empty, unruly, and unappealing.”

A sudden odd feeling in his stomach pulls his attention from the bug to peer down at his own body where now, a hand covered in darkness and shadows protrudes from his body. Jeonghan chuckles to himself seeing the shadows don’t do much to hide his brother’s hand underneath. He’d been so preoccupied with the bug that he didn’t smell his brother coming, “Good evening baby brother,” Jeonghan purrs, smiling to himself as the hand that pierced his body does nothing to harm him, in fact it almost tickles, “I’ve missed your cute attempts to hurt me.”

The vibrations of Soonyoung shaking in pure anger resonate through his whole body, and thus into Jeonghan’s. The youngest was unlucky enough to inherit their Father’s horrendous temper, and it often is his downfall as in this state, he is easily manipulated. Without so much as waiting for a reply, Jeonghan places his hand onto his brother’s, the shadow shrieking to get away from the monster. He applies pressure, effectively crushing the bones in his brother’s hand. A whine of pain is heard behind him and Jeonghan wills his brother’s body away, flying into the wall adjacent to him. As expected, the wall crushes under the pressure of a demon being thrown into it.

Jeonghan sighs, already feeling bored with the affair as his brother hasn’t reacted yet. He glances down at the wide hole in his body, clearly able to see through it. A chuckle rises from his throat as the slight feeling subsides watching his body quickly mend back together.

The sound of bricks moving alerts him to Soonyoung crouching in an attack position among the rubble, his eyes mimicking Jeonghan’s own, as black as their souls. Completely black and feral. A funny feeling rises from his stomach, giggles spill from his lips as he sees Soonyoung’s face rigid with pain, and his eyes turn into the brilliant white of their father’s. Jeonghan is quite jealous that he doesn’t have that when he’s clearly the true demon. Soonyoung is much too kind, even for one of their own species.

“What’s got your tail all worked up? Hm?” Jeonghan purrs, his tongue slithering out to goad his brother into taking the offensive position and attacking first, “Is me playing with your human like a chew toy bothering you?”

Shadows quickly dart from Soonyoung’s body at all angles, from the floor, above and all around. The youngest demon prince still hasn’t uttered a word. The white eyes of their Father appear to only take over the usual black and red rimmed when Soonyoung is desperately angered, and Jeonghan is ecstatic by the thought that it was he who brought it to reality.

Jeonghan stands still as ever, a snake waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The shadows draw nearer and nearer until they seem impossible to escape. All Jeonghan does is stare at Soonyoung with a wide grin before the shadows stop a few inches from his body. The ones on the ground beat against an invisible force, and the ones in the air aimed to slice his neck off his shoulders strain against their length, pulling to reach for the target, “In all your anger you still try to use your shadows when you fully know I can control them,” Jeonghan makes a gentle tilt of his head, and the shadows all dart back in the direction they came from, now admirably seeking out to strike their owner, “How desperate are you?”

Soonyoung doesn’t attempt to stop them, only covering his face with his arms as his body will absorb the shadows as soon as they hit. The force behind the rapid return of the shadows pushes him back even as he attempts to stop himself. The strength of the shadows forces his heels to dig into the ground, concrete giving way underneath him as he sinks from the power.

He is a patient demon, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Waiting is nothing more than a long, slow, yet worthwhile game he is always willing to play. The payoff in the end has his soul resonating with joy at the amount of bodies that litter the floor. He can run for days purely from excitement depending on much blood he’s coated in. Seeing the red liquid, especially that of humans, sends him into a glorious frenzy.

Finally getting to play with his baby brother grants him more enjoyment than he originally thought. It’s not the power Soonyoung controls no, the youngest can’t hold a candle to his own power. If Jeonghan decided to use his entire strength, Soonyoung would’ve been dead the instant he showed up to rescues his mortal. All he would have had to do was to crush Soonyoung’s body from the inside, making it tear itself apart, merely by staring at his brother. It’s one of the more thrill-seeking kills he can do, but he’s not done gouging Soonyoung yet for that.

Jeonghan has control over everything, as it should be. The game is not over yet, no, not until the ugly mutt’s blood is everywhere with his body shredded to pieces. And Soonyoung dead at his feet. It’ll be one sibling down, ten to go.

“You are awfully quiet brother of mine, is something the matter?” Jeonghan purrs, brushing off any dust or dirt that might have blown onto him. He watches as Soonyoung is breathing heavily, crouched slightly into an attack position. The shadows of his gift have collected into his body, the blackness coating his arms and run throughout his veins. It is a protective shielding, only it will do nothing to protect him. Only Soonyoung’s face is not covered by the shadows, “Look at you, waiting for me to attack well, here I come.”

Jeonghan’s yawning from where he stands in the middle of the ally, back facing the muzzled dog still hold against the wall, and his hissing brother. The taunting pulls a growl from Soonyoung, knowing well that he is mocking the youngest child of Satan. Soonyoung can try to save Jihoon, but they all ultimately know who will win in the end.

Though Jeonghan has decided to play nice, so he is going to play with them for a while more. In one moment, Jeonghan is standing casually in the middle, and in the next he's standing right in front of his brother, who’s much to slow to see the movement until Jeonghan’s palm has already contacted with Soonyoung’s cheek. Despite not winding his arm back, he slaps the younger demon plan across the face, and it has enough power behind it to send the demon flying further away from Jihoon.

“Oh, look at that distance,” Jeonghan comments to himself, watching as Soonyoung’s body flies until a brick wall stops him, though it crumbles under the power. The sudden falling of the wall creates a storm of dust, circling quickly that it nearly hides Soonyoung’s movements from Jeonghan’s sharp gaze.

He senses the attack before he sees him, leaning his head slightly to the left as Soonyoung’s hand comes darting at his throat, likely trying to remove his head from his body. It’s a good tactic if Jeonghan were slower, and a lesser demon. Instead he’s powerful, and the rightful heir to Hell.

In a quick counterattack, Jeonghan twists his body downward, sweeping Soonyoung’s feet out from under him. Instead of falling forward like he expected, Soonyoung falls backwards, bending quickly to flip back to get his feet under him, sinking onto his heels when he lands. A bit further away than Jeonghan would have expected. It seems Soonyoung was testing to see how close combat is against him, which he should have known wouldn’t work. That concludes Soonyoung is getting desperate.

Good.

It’s time to turn the heat up on this session of fun.

Jeonghan holds his left hand out, stretched away from his body and Soonyoung. Like clockwork, the binds holding the mutt up unhinge from the wall, dropping with a loud clink. The mortal’s body doesn’t fall to the ground, instead it floats across the ground until Jeonghan’s hand grips his neck, squeezing gently, but not too gentle that it won’t bruise.

“Please don’t,” Soonyoung’s voice is small, and it’s the first words he’s heard in a while from his brother. Jeonghan turns his attention from the mutt to his brother, seeing Soonyoung’s defenses lowering as his eyes are focused on the human. Entirely too consumed with pure fear for the mortal, and none for himself. Jeonghan narrows his eyes as his brother speaks once more, “Your anger is not with him, so _please_ , spare him and take mine.”

“On the contrary, _this-_ ,” Jeonghan violently shakes his arm, the force runs through the mutt’s body, “-is the problem.”

“He’s done nothing wrong!” Soonyoung shouts, breath ragged as Jeonghan watches as tears openly flow from his brother’s eyes despite remaining in defense attack position, “All he’s done is make me feel _loved_ and _happy_ for once in my miserable life. Is that not fair for me to want that?” Soonyoung’s voice cracks, his eyes unable to meet Jeonghan’s sharp gaze as his focus is on one thing and one thing only.

Though while his focus is on the human, Jeonghan is remembering his own life, his hand tightening on the human’s throat in anger at his incompetence back then, “We are demons. Happiness is not something we were created for. And certainly not for the children of the most wretched one to exist.”

The human’s face is beginning to pale, lips turning blue as the little air still flowing through his lungs is lessening. The one possible thing keeping his body from shutting down is his strong soul, fighting to keep him alive, both demons can see that clearly.

Soonyoung takes a step forward, and Jeonghan with his eyes blazing in anger, digs his nails into the skin, drawing blood quickly, “Why do you still try to save him when you cannot beat me?”

It doesn’t make sense to him. Once it did, but that was a long, long time ago. When he had faith in himself, in others, in his abilities to protect. His reality check hit him with blood and several forces he could not beat no matter how much he tried. It is the reason he wishes to take down both Heaven and Hell.

“Because I love him.” Soonyoung’s voice is strong, and his soul is stronger. Not a lick of regret, hesitation, nor doubt. Simply love for the mortal. The ugly mutt with tongue that should be cut out. It’s not fair Soonyoung can keep his.

Jeonghan scowls, clicking his tongue as he sends Soonyoung flying into the closest brick surface. He hears his brother whimper in pain, and yet through the dust cloud rising between them, his brother still moves toward the human, hand reaching out despite the large distance between them, “You know not now, and not ever, will you beat me in battle.”

He watches lazily as Soonyoung picks himself up off the ground, coughing up blood as he does so yet nonetheless find the strength to stand against an immovable force. Jeonghan sees Soonyoung wipe the blood from his mouth, eyes never straying from Jihoon, yet a smile breaks out onto his face, “I know that, you’ve never failed to make sure I know that.” Soonyoung moves his eyes to finally meet Jeonghan’s, an odd confident smile rising to his busted lips.

Jeonghan furrows his eyebrows, confusion filtering through his mind. This is not apart of the plan. Everything was going according to the game he designed to fit perfectly. The ending is near enough that he can taste the blood in his mouth, bubbling with excitement. Yet why? Why is Soonyoung smiling like he’s not lost his reason to life?

“But she can.”

The notion of fear is not common in him. He’s nearly forgotten what it felt like, over four hundred years since he’s last recognized himself as being terrified beyond his own imagination. Yet now, it seeps throughout his body as his senses of danger are clearing through his blood lust. Now instead of enjoying cutting down others, he might have to worry about his own head’s safety.

He doesn’t turn his head, merely moving his eyes to see her pale, almost ghostly see-through hand, gripping at his shoulder. Her nails dug into his skin, pain flourishing throughout his body as she continues to tighten her grip. Jeonghan doesn’t dare move his gaze further up her body, knowing she would insight that as a challenge. 

“She won’t always be able to save you from my wrath,” Jeonghan snaps, his voice slightly higher now that his game plan is about him surviving, and not killing the mutt and his brother. His body now shakes, the command to release gravitating throughout, urging him to follow the stronger demon’s wishes. The strength that once seemed to have no limits within his ancient body has fallen to none, knees weak as his grip loosens on the mutt’s neck. The dog falls to the floor in a heap, yet Soonyoung knows not to come any closer, “You are the lucky one, youngest brother.”

A hand clutches at the base of his tail, nails digging into the harsh skin, eliciting a whine of pain from Jeonghan. Consciousness begins to fade from him, and the last thing he sees is the triumphant face of Soonyoung before he’s pulled through the portal by the demon, he fears the most. Not even in his unconscious state can he feel at peace. His nightmares run rampant, showing him what happened and what could have been.

Oh well, he can try again later.

 

 

 

 

 

The breath in his lungs escapes him only after the portal has disappeared. He didn’t exhale in fear that the dream of the only sibling to care for him coming to save his Jihoon would disappear. His soul had begun bouncing throughout his chest once he saw her looking at him with a gentle smile, and without words, she comforted him in a way not many can. Her mere presence soothed his overwhelming desperation to save Jihoon, and she quelled it by simply appearing.

The shadows resolve from the barrier they created over his body, knowing fully well Jeonghan could have used it against him. His breath shatters at the pain, but it is nothing compared to Jihoon’s current state. Soonyoung can barely glance at Jihoon’s wrist where the top layer of the skin is gone, and along with the tattoo that binds them.

“Jihoon,” Soonyoung whimpers, sinking to his knees where Jihoon lies, unconscious, soul almost giving up its fight to save his life. The heartbeat is slow, going to give out before Jihoon’s soul will. If only he had been able to run faster, and if only he were as powerful as his sister would he have been able to save his beloved. But no, his incompetence forced him to rely on his sister rushing to his aid, and forcing Jeonghan back to Hell, “I’m sorry. I’m _so_ sorry. This is all my fault.”

He pulls the barely alive human into his grip, cradling Jihoon’s head into his lap and gently stroking through his hair. Tears begin to stream down his face, knowing there is nothing he can do to save Jihoon. The blood loss appears to have been great, seeing the puddles of the liquid necessary for life streaking away from his Jihoon. Even if he were to coat Jihoon in his saliva, the Demon’s Cure wouldn’t be able to replenish the blood quickly enough.

 Jihoon is dying and there isn’t a thing he can do to save him. The slight hope when he first arrived to see the chaos Jeonghan ensued is swiped from his grasp. It’s a sinking feeling to know his love, the shining hope in his long life, is disappearing before his very eyes.

There have been so many bloodbaths he has seen, so much horror that he’s witnessed in his life, and upon occasion, has started himself to be covered head to toe in blood. But the sight of seeing his Jihoon withering away in his very arms that could wipe out the entirety of Seoul if he so pleased, destroys him to his bones. All he can concentrate on doing is staring down at his love who won’t ever open his eyes again.

“There is still hope young prince.”

A voice startles him to gaze up to see a man standing where Jeonghan was, peering down at him with a pitiful smile aimed for him. He’s been so focused on his own failure to protect the one that has his heart than on the surroundings to any enemies.

The man is tall and thin, peering much thinner than he should be with slightly hollow cheeks. His hair is a soft chocolate brown, bangs almost hiding his round eyes. He is dressed in simple sweatpants and a t-shirt, appearing as nothing more than an average human. Only Soonyoung can tell he is not a mortal by any means.

An old, almost ancient soul resides in the man, along with plenty of power. It is not a demon that stands before him, but a being that should be trying to kill him instead of offering him a glimmering thought of hope. Two things are missing from the man before him, and he can’t understand why they aren’t there when supernatural beings cannot hide their forms from other supernatural beings.

Soonyoung clutches Jihoon closer to his chest, tail wrapping around one of Jihoon’s arms in a protective stance as the man could pose a threat to them both, “What does a being like yourself want with me?”

“To help,” The angel says, relaxing his stance to appear as non-threatening as possible, “I can save him.” The confidence resonates from the angel’s soul into Soonyoung, telling him that the angel in fact can save Jihoon. An angel cannot lie even if they so pleased, and the hope that was once dead, is reborn.

“Please, I’ll do anything to keep him by my side,” Soonyoung pleads, his entire body shaking with a new hope.

The angel merely smiles, and before Soonyoung can say anything else, the angel has closed the difference and placed a hand in-between Soonyoung’s horns.

In a matter of a second in a searing bright white light, the setting has changed drastically. Instead of a darkened ally covered in blood and rubble, they are now in an apartment that is covered in everything white. The bed, the curtains, the door, all the clothing peaking through the closet door, white, white, white, and more white. A setting home for an angel. It is going to give Soonyoung a headache sooner or later. Though his mind is quickly snapped back to where his love lies unconscious, still cradled in his arms.

“Put him on the bed, and set to work licking his wrist,” The angel directs, quickly removing the comforter from the bed. Soonyoung does as directed, careful to not tousle Jihoon too much as he lifts him from the ground. A whimper flows from Jihoon’s lips, and Soonyoung grimaces at not being able to keep his love from getting hurt.

Once he settles Jihoon on the bed, his mind starts to question the angel’s words. How would he know of a healing power possessed by royal demons? As far as he’s been told, it is to be kept from any other supernatural being, and even some demons, “How do you know about the Demon’s Cure? That has been a safe guarded secret since long before I was born.” Soonyoung questions, gently holding Jihoon’s tattered wrist, spotting the marks Jeonghan’s fingers made, and the various fang marks that are deeper than anything else.

“I know plenty about demons, Soonyoung,” The angel remarks as he sits on the bed on the other side of Jihoon. Soonyoung quirks up at hearing his name, something he most certainly did not give the angel. Some would consider simply him being in the angel’s presence is treacherous. The angel doesn’t peer at the confused demon, instead placing his hand in the center of Jihoon’s chest, a gentle golden glow shimmering underneath where it connects the angel and human, “Heal your human first and then I will answer your questions once he’s stable.”

Soonyoung doesn’t question the angel. He knows angels have special healing abilities, far more capable than his own. Questions linger in the back of his mind, but his priority is Jihoon. Jihoon is all he has. It’s all he ever wants. Jihoon is his everything and he wouldn’t know what to do without him. He lifts the limp wrist, and he holds Jihoon’s arm in front of his mouth, tongue making the first cautious lick.

The pained whine that comes from Jihoon has his insides churning as he knows the fastest way for Jihoon’s skin to grow back is through this method. It momentarily shifts a portion of Soonyoung’s natural quick healing ability onto another person, or if a demon is in partially bad shape, it enhances the demon’s already quick regeneration speed. Though the licking heals, its application stings, often reiterating the pain felt in what caused the initial injury. It is a give and take cure that is the most powerful but comes with an added issue of feeling what once was done upon the body.

Soonyoung’s gone through it enough to know the pain. The fact it is happening to his Jihoon, harms his soul. But his soul knows this is the way to keep Jihoon from dying.

In tense silence, the demon and angel work together until they reach the point where Jihoon’s color has returned with even breathes that it now sounds like Jihoon is sleeping. The skin on his wrist is growing back, still thin and able to see the marks that tore the original skin off, but it is rapidly growing back. The tattoo that binds them has yet to reappear but in time it will. His own tattoo antsy to be connected once again to his lover.

The angel pulls his hand from Jihoon’s chest, swiping at his bangs and wiping away the sweat that trickles down his forehead, “Jeonghan truly did a number on him, poor thing,” The angel remarks, eyes cast down as Soonyoung flickers his eyes to the angel upon hearing his brother’s name. First the angel knows of him, and his name, now his brother and the Demon’s Cure.

Who is this angel?

“I know our kinds do not like one another, but,” Soonyoung turns his curious gaze from the angel to his human. His soul hardened by the troubles caused to Jihoon because of who he is, yet he can’t help but take for granted the chance of an angel passing mercy on himself, a demon, to save the human life at risk. He had given up hope, knowing alone he wouldn’t have been able to save Jihoon, “I thank you for saving him. I owe you a life debt.”

With a huff of his breath the angel runs his fingers over Jihoon’s forehead, golden light shining where the angel touches Jihoon, “You owe me nothing, though I do owe you a story and an explanation of who I am.”

Soonyoung remains silent, drinking in the long drawn away gaze of sadness filling the angel’s eyes. For as long as he’s known, and the few angels he has met before, angels do not have many emotions. Most remain in a neutral expression, following orders without the bat of an eye and drink up the praise upon success. For an angel to look sad, almost depressed, either this angel is a deformity among the rest, or he has seen things the others have not.

“My name is Jisoo, and long ago, I fell in love with a human, and a demon. The three of us loved one another wholeheartedly. For a while, everything was perfect, until it was not.” The angel, now Jisoo, takes his finger and runs it across the healing skin on Jihoon’s wrist, the skin absorbing the golden glow of the Heavens, “The three of us had a love that was so foreign for all of us. Jeonghan and I decided for once, we wanted our own happiness and abandoned our duties to live with him here in the mortal realm. It was the best years of my life, and it all happened around the time you were born.”

Jisoo smiles softly at the good memories, “Jeonghan would sneak back only to visit you and bring pictures to show us. Your horns were much too big for your newborn head, but you’ve grown into them finally. Any time he spoke of you, or thought of you, his face would break out into a huge smile. He always said he couldn’t wait to teach you how to use your powers.”

“That sounds like a Jeonghan from another world,” Soonyoung remarks, staring at Jisoo as he is unable to process the story being told. He’s never known Jeonghan to coo over him, nor be compassionate in any sense. The only thing Jeonghan likes is ruining the world for everyone else, “I wish I had that Jeonghan.”

A frown replaces the quiet smile, Jisoo’s fingers running down the middle of Jihoon’s chest, “The three of us only had three marvelous years together before the Heavens and Hell decided the relationship we had was not in the best interests of either party.”

“What? That doesn’t make sense. I know demons and angels have never seen eye to eye, but Father has always allowed us to interact with your kind, and he doesn’t mind demons having romantic relationships with humans.” Soonyoung knows their situation is different but from the few lessons his Father has taught him, having good relationships with other supernaturals is in the best interest of demons. Having relations with humans, or at least being friends with some lets the world know, demons aren’t all evil.

“I’ve never witnessed the Heavens and Hell in the same room together, nor had I ever heard of such an occurrence until that day but… Your Father was more merciful than the Heavens, at least that is how I saw it. I bowed my head and took my punishment with acceptance, you see while demons are not shunned from interacting with humans, or even being friends with angels, the Heavens do not tolerate any form of interaction with a different species,” Jisoo reaches above his head to touch the nonexistent halo, and as if sunlight passed through the windows in the room, the shadows of the bones of Jisoo’s wings fluttered into existence to show Soonyoung his pain, “Jeonghan however fought against the Heavens, your father, and myself. He could not stop the anger within him.”

If he remembers his studies about the laws of Heaven, angels have three strikes and then they are kicked from Heaven for good. As Jeonghan has no Halo nor wings left, it seems all his chances were taken away from him in one fell swoop. One wing for the human, one wing for Jeonghan, and the halo if Soonyoung’s guess is correct, for having emotions for other species.

“Is that what turned him cold?” Soonyoung questions, his hand cradling Jihoon’s lightly stroking the man’s fingers, glad all of them are there, “Is the reason he despises me so much because of that?”

A long sigh escapes Jisoo’s lips, the angel removing his touch completely from Jihoon’s still body, “The Heavens and Hell came to an unanimous decision that the common factor in the affair was the main problem. They thought that by taking that away, it would make the wrongs, right again. So, they killed our human lover by decapitation right before our very eyes.”

Soonyoung’s eyes are blown wide at the story. The sudden flip in Jeonghan’s demeanor makes sense, at least more so than the unknown reason as to why his brother hates him so. Though it seems the incident drove Jisoo and Jeonghan in two different directions. Jisoo is calmer in his soul, thinks more than he acts, watches and plans his words and movements. While Jeonghan is a spark waiting to erupt into flames. He acts quickly, yet with his pure power, manages to wield anything in his favor. He’s horribly stubborn and not passed the judgement the Heavens and Hell decided to bestow upon them.

Jisoo accepted it and faced the consequences. Their lover died, and it seems Jisoo was the only one remaining that emerged somewhat coherent. Jeonghan hasn’t and doesn’t seem to accept that this was the consequence for defying those greater than himself. He fights despite having already lost what he holds dear.

Jeonghan didn’t lose one, but two loves in a single day.

“Did it change him enough to see humans as the problem? Is that why he tried to kill Jihoon?” Soonyoung questions. Before he never understood his eldest brother’s ways, and despite knowing more about his brother before he was born, he is more confused than before.

“In a way, yes. And in another, no,” Jisoo holds both of his hands out towards Soonyoung, two golden balls of light energy float just above his palms. The one in his right hand shrinks to wear it is almost invisible and the other, enlarges drastically, “The smallest amount of the Jeonghan I loved is still in the deepest part of his soul, likely the portion he went to great lengths to cage and imprison,” Jisoo gestures to his right hand where the tiny golden ball shimmers and shakes as if trying to escape.

“That tiny sliver of his old self, is trying to protect you, along with the rest of your siblings, but he’s always favored you for being the baby of all of Satan’s children,” Jisoo admits, a small sad smile on his face at a memory Soonyoung likely isn’t privy to know. He raises his left hand, nearly engulfed by the larger golden globe of light energy, “This is the hatred that was planted within him on that fateful day by both the Heavens and your father, to hate humans, to hate virtually anything he used to love, and that includes myself and our human love.

“The locked away portion of his will to protect is being absorbed by the raw anger. It’s likely he himself doesn’t understand much of his ways. In a roundabout way, through the fury, he is trying to protect you from what we had to go through. While it is different circumstances, his anger cannot see that. His understanding is that if you are in love with a human, then you too will end up like him. A true demon, and I know deep down, the part of him that still wants to protect you, is trying to loosen the madness bestowed upon him as to stop his rage before he does kill either you, or Jihoon.” Jisoo combines his hands, the large golden ball completely dwarfing the smaller one.

He places his hand over his heart, and the other to wrap around the shadow tattoo that his now streaming back onto Jihoon’s wrist, happily back where it belongs. It dances at Soonyoung’s touch, rejoicing in their return, and union once again, “His anger must be the worst against you then,” Soonyoung lowers his eyes to watch Jihoon’s chest rise and fall, “Father must have put something horrid in him for that to make him a monster.”

The angel nods as he balls his fists, the now single ball of light disappearing in a second, “I’ve not spoken to him since that day, but I know he would kill me without hesitating if he saw me. It’s a good thing he’s not been back to the mortal realm since our human was put to death, but despite myself knowing he would kill me if I showed my face to him, I couldn’t help but wander near his presence when I felt it in the mortal realm. Thus, how I stumbled upon you.” Jisoo hums, peering out into the darkened sky through the window as if returning to a different time, long before Jihoon, and Soonyoung existed. To a happier time, “Though if you do have to fight your brother again, I suggest you tuck that tail tight, I’m surprised he didn’t try to pull it.”

Soonyoung’s tail perks up at the sudden change in topic, swishing back and forth quickly before settling down again to wrap around Jihoon’s arm in a loving caress, “I admit I was more focused on Jihoonie than saving myself in the moment.” He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, face lightly dusted purple in blush.

The angel chuckles to himself, covering his lips to hide his smile, “He seemed more lost in the blood lust to care about fighting you with strategy. You were lucky this time,” Jisoo says, glancing down at Jihoon and then peering out the window. An odd smell enters Soonyoung’s senses, and he goes rigid for a moment as Jisoo speaks again, “Ah, one of my roommates has returned for the night, let’s get you two home before he gets startled at seeing a demon in our home.”

“There are other angels living here?” Soonyoung questions, now his more boyish curiosity at another species rears its head. He’d love to learn more about them, “Were they punished to live among the mortals too?”

Jisoo doesn’t appear hurt by the question, more amused by his blatant curiosity, “Yes, they both only have a single wing and their halo left, but they’ve never come into contact with a demon so let’s not give them a scare alright?”

“Oh of course,” Soonyoung mutters, pushing back any further questions as scoops Jihoon into his arms, hating the way his love is limp in his grasp, “I can’t thank you enough for saving us, if there is anything I can do for you, or the other fallen angels, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

The angel quirks his head to the side, eyes closing for a moment as if remembering another long-forgotten memory, “I’ll remember that,” Jisoo stands, rounding the bed to stand before the demon. Soonyoung tilts his head down so Jisoo can place his hand in-between his horns. The feeling of hands running through his locks nearly makes him purr, his tail sways contently behind him. Jisoo chuckles at the cuteness of the youngest demon prince, “Jihoon will be waking soon, and the first thing he should see is you and not a stranger. I’ll see you around kiddo.”

The bright light seers his vision again, and within the second, Soonyoung stands in Jihoon’s apartment once more. The bedroom is exactly as he left it, comforter thrown astray as he rushed out of the apartment to follow the call of fear running through the connection in their souls and on their wrists.

Soonyoung sets Jihoon down in the middle of the bed and bundles him into the mattress. He tucks as many blankets over his human as possible before setting beside his love. The room is dark and yet Soonyoung stares at Jihoon’s sleeping face, no longer rigid with pain, grateful for every moment they’ve shared together.

“I love you so much and I can’t wait for you to wake up,” Soonyoung whispers, placing a gentle, feather-light kiss to Jihoon’s cheek. He drapes an arm protectively over Jihoon’s chest and cuddles as closely to his human as possible. His tail wraps around Jihoon’s thigh to do the same, “Please hurry and come back to me, I’ve missed you too much.” Soonyoung mumbles, drifting to sleep as he buries his head in Jihoon’s neck, happily smelling Jihoon’s scent that calms every part of him.

 

 

 

 

 

The rays of morning sunlight awaken Jihoon to peer at the ceiling of his bedroom. And in the next moment, a mop of red hair, two black horns and squishy cheeks shield his view from anything else. This is his favorite way to wake up in the morning after all. First, it’s boring, nothing interesting, and within a flash of a second of realizing he is awake, Soonyoung is all he sees, “Even in death I’ve got the same beginning to my mornings.”

“You are not dead!” Soonyoung protests much too quickly for Jihoon to handle right now. His entire body is attached to the spot where he lays, unable to move a single limb as they all feel like lead. Even to keep his eyes open in a challenge. The last thing he remembers is Jeonghan’s malicious expression with Jihoon’s own skin hanging from his lips. He didn’t think he’d ever wake up from that nightmare, yet here he is.

Back in his home. In his own bed. With his own demon prince smiling down at him. Jihoon is afraid if he continues to smile like that, his face his going to crack. Especially when Soonyoung maneuvers to where his hands are planted on either side of Jihoon’s head, straddling his waist, “You have too much energy in the morning,” Jihoon remarks, yawning widely and fully intending on going back to sleep.

Soonyoung seems to have other plans.

“Hoonie I wouldn’t sleep anymore. You’d miss the kids and Seungcheol coming to visit,” The demon whines, nose scrunching up to protest.

The glare Soonyoung receives clearly doesn’t bother him. If Jihoon could do more than glare he would, but his body won’t allow him to, “Why in the world are they coming over after what happened last night?”

A good indicator of a guilty Soonyoung is his tail dangling between his legs. Caught like a dog whose torn up all the cushions on the couch in fits of boredom. Which Soonyoung has done. Multiple times. “I may have let Seungcheollie know you weren’t feeling well and to bring the kids to cheer you up? Or they may burst into the apartment in a little bit? Who knows?”

“What did I do right in my past life to deserve you?” Jihoon asks, nose tickling as Soonyoung leans in closer to him.

Soonyoung hums in response, unknowing of the exact answer but not caring to know. The demon prince leans in closer, his forehead resting against Jihoon’s as their noses dance together. Lips barely apart, Soonyoung whispers, “I can’t say for your past life, but in this life? You said a summoning incantation. Though with horrible pronunciation. You see, pronunciation is key to summoning demons.”

“Yet you still showed up,” Jihoon retorts, watching Soonyoung’s eyes flutter between the normal deep brown and occasionally shifting to the all-black demon eyes that are comforting rather than terrifying, “Both times I said the phrase, might I add.”

“I was curious who could mess up a summoning incantation twice.”

“Uh huh, sounds fake Princey Boy,” Jihoon uses the little strength he does have to lift his head to close the distance between their lips. Soonyoung jumps slightly, not expecting Jihoon to be able to move at all just yet.

Within the moment, Soonyoung responds, pushing down gently so Jihoon’s head sits back onto the pillow. Jihoon feels warm hands cupping his cheeks as his eyes flutter closed at the rough lips of Soonyoung gently pressing innocent, and sweet kisses onto his lips. He grows impatient as Soonyoung ventures further away from his lips, a pout forming.

A bubbly laugh erupts from Soonyoung, and Jihoon can feel it from where the demon prince’s lips are connected to his cheek, “You are very demanding,” Soonyoung remarks, yet does what his lover desires and connects their lips again for a passionate kiss.

Their lips mold together like puzzle pieces, meant to connect with ease that they only fit together one way. Jihoon hums as Soonyoung nips at his lower lip, the four fanged canines in Soonyoung’s mouth nearly pricking his skin each time, “You are supposed to be subject to the will of my soul,” Jihoon remarks in-between kisses, bringing up terms of the summoning incantation.

“I am subjected to your soul wholeheartedly,” Soonyoung remarks, leaning back slightly to flop over onto the other side of the mattress, one arm propping up his head to stare down at Jihoon, and the other held up to show off the tattoo that connects them for the rest of Jihoon’s life, “But you also have my whole body, mind and soul to do with which you please.”

“Stop being an idiot.”

“I’ll stop when you stop.”

“You are always an idiot.”

“Exactly.”

Jihoon huffs in slight annoyance, yet smiles through his soft glares at his boyfriend, “So tell me, how are we alive after last night?”

Soonyoung tells him everything. Recapping what happened after he passed out, the eldest child of Satan stopping Jeonghan from killing them, and a literal angel working with Soonyoung to save him. If Jihoon hadn’t been exposed to the supernatural world beforehand, he would have thought it a very detailed fabricated lie.

The story is barely done behind told when the kids and Seungcheol show up. All burst through the apartment door thanks to Seungcheol already having a key. Not a moment later does the door to the bedroom burst open and suddenly their bed made for two, is decorated with eight bodies with Jihoon in the center.

He’s suddenly very thankful for the normalcy in his life with the people in his life who don’t know of the supernatural. It keeps him grounded that he knows things they do not, and that he’s made it this far being in the world of certain death.

Jihoon glances at Soonyoung who is wrestling with Seungkwan and Minghao simultaneously, both kids calling the demon prince a cheater for able to defeat them both swiftly. He took to Jihoon’s world so quickly, with an enthusiasm while Jihoon hasn’t taken the same to Soonyoung’s world. But its granted as his world is blood, death, and an older brother trying to kill him. Though now that he’s survived once, based on the chance of a stronger being pulling Jeonghan away before he could really kill them, he’s not so scared anymore.

Jihoon has Soonyoung, who is the Stitch to his Lilo, and he thinks, with utmost confidence, that it is all he needs in life to continue living. Even in the face of immediate danger, Jihoon knows he can stand tall against it.

His gaze lingers on Soonyoung, now wrestling all the kids, faking his defeat as each limb is being held by a different person. His tail whips back and forth quickly, using it to slyly tickle everyone’s stomachs and darting off before it can be found out. The moment Soonyoung feels his gaze, he turns to meet Jihoon’s gaze, and he mouths ‘I love you’ that Jihoon can hear it clearly without Soonyoung using his actual voice.

The shadow tattoo warms his wrist that soon spreads quickly throughout his body, pushing the words deep into his soul. Jihoon smiles at the cuddled feeling, mouthing the words back to Soonyoung.

The world is a funny place, he thinks, going back to the night he decided to look up ancient Latin love quotes. The song would have been about a love so old, time itself could not erode the feelings the two shared. Jihoon has no proof whatsoever, but a feeling deep down in his heart, in the very core of his soul, Soonyoung and himself have that.

No matter where in the world they are, their souls will find one another one way or another. Shadows will lead them to one another until they are connected and hold strong onto each other.

Jihoon’s glad he messed up the summoning incantation, because if not, there could’ve been a chance Soonyoung wouldn’t have answered his call. He certainly wouldn’t be this happy if he hadn’t summoned a demon. Twice.

It was the best, non-coherent decision he ever made to say a phrase in a foreign language he didn’t know. He wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Maybe Jihoon is jumping the gun but he can’t wait till he’s able to meet Soonyoung in another life and fall for the demon prince all over again.

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a quick idea I needed to get out of my head to work on other projects and it grew into a good sized story. 
> 
> Thank you for reading if you did! Comments are always appreciated! 
> 
> My [Twitter](https://twitter.com/anemoneblues)


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